Mapping Child Survival: A District-Level Assessment of SDG-3 Target for Under-five Mortality Rate in Assam

Objective: This study aims to present the district-level estimates of under-five mortality rate of Assam, with specific emphasis on assessing its progress towards attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 target by 2030. The paper additionally presents sex differentials in target achievement and identifying districts' likelihood of meeting or missing the goal by 2030. The under-five mortality rate indirectly offers insight into the overall health, quality of life, welfare, and development of an area. Materials and methods: The study uses the unit-level data from National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-20) and 4 (2015-16). A synthetic cohort probability approach is used to obtain the district-wise estimates of the under-five mortality rate for the state of Assam. Results: The analysis shows that 12 per cent out of all the districts across the state have already attained the target outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1. However, nearly 30 per cent of the districts are unlikely to achieve it by 2030. Moreover, there exists a significant difference in attainment of the target across the two sexes. It is seen that female under-five mortality rates fluctuate relatively more across the districts compared to male under-five mortality rate. Additionally, more districts are on track to meet the target in case of female under-five mortality rate by 2030. Conclusion: Strategic adoption of policies, effective implementation, and efficient healthcare interventions is necessary in narrowing the gap and enabling all districts to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 by 2030. It is expected that 20 districts of Assam would attain the target by 2030.