Gaps in infant and child mortality among social groups and its linkages with institutional delivery and child immunization using census and National Family Health Survey (2015-16).

Introduction: Infant and child mortality are considered as one of the most important indicators of social and economic development of the nation. This paper intends to shed light on the prevalence of infant and under-five death rates with special reference to differentials in SCs, STs, and non-SCs/STs population in India. In addition, to determine the factors affecting child immunization and institutional delivery by different background characteristics. Data source and methods: The present study has used Census 2001 and 2011 for estimating the infant and under-five mortality. The National Family Health Survey (2015–16) has been used to assess the gaps in institutional delivery and coverage of child full immunization between SC, ST, and other caste population and also to assess the covariates of insitutional delivery and full immunization. Results: The study observed the high infant mortality rate and under-5 mortality among Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, while it is much lower among non-SC/ST population in 2011 census. The result of logistic regression suggests that caste has significant impact on access to institutional delivery and child immunization, adjusted for other socio-economic variables. All the castes are more likely to gain access to both institutional delivery and child immunization compared to scheduled tribe population. Conclusion: The study result shows the persistent poor health outcome among the SC/ST population in India. There is need to focus on this section of the population to achieve the sustainable development goals of child health and its core agenda "No one left behind". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]