Tamil Nadu has received an award from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for recording one of the highest annual declines in the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) between 2015 and 2016.

The Union Ministry presented awards to best-performing States during the 5th National Summit on “Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems in India” at Kaziranga in Assam on Tuesday. Darez Ahamed, Mission Director of the National Health Mission (NHM), Tamil Nadu, received the award from Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda.

The State bagged the second place in the rankings for the ‘highest annual decline in NMR 2015 versus 2016’. Himachal Pradesh stood first. An official of the Health Department said that while the national average for reducing NMR was 4%, Tamil Nadu had reduced it by 14.3%. “T.N. has already achieved the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing NMR to 12 per 1,000 live births by 2030,” he said.

“The award has come as a recognition of efforts taken by many persons, including paediatricians and gynaecologists, in the State,” said Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.