High under-five mortality rate in Rural Madhya Pradesh, time to identify high-risk districts using National Family Health Survey-4 data with comparison to low under-five mortality rate in Rural Tamil Nadu, India

Background: India had highest number of under-five deaths, 1.2 million deaths out of 5.9 million (2015). As per the results from the first phase of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-2016, under-five mortality rate was highest in rural area of Madhya Pradesh (MP), 69/1000 live birth as compared to urban areas, 52/1000 live birth. The objective of the study was to identify potentially high-risk districts (HRD). Methods: This study was carried out from the secondary data of 50 districts of MP State which was available from NFHS-4 with information from 49,164 households. Scoring method was used to identify HRD by comparing variables related to maternal and child health care of rural MP with rural Tamil Nadu. Results: Eleven HRDs were identified with poor maternal and child health care along with high women's illiteracy and high percentage of child marriages in women. Indore division had 3 topmost HRD, Alirajpur, Jhabua, and Barwani followed by Rewa division with 2, Singrauli and Sidhi along with Sagar division. Conclusions: HRDs should be considered for targeted interventions using the strategies for reducing under-five mortality rate in rural MP.