Itanagar, Oct 26 (PTI) Arunachal Pradesh has registered a significant decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), according to the Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin released this month. As per the bulletin, the infant mortality rate in the state has declined from 37 per 1000 live births in 2018 to 29 per 1000 live births in 2019. The IMR which is widely accepted as a crude indicator of the overall health scenario of a country or a region, is defined as the infant deaths (less than one year) per thousand live births in a given time period and for a given region. The results signify that the strategic approach of the Centre and the efforts of the state government on health through various initiatives, Deputy Director (IEC) of National Health Mission (NHM) O Thamphang said. "Strengthening of service delivery, quality assurance, improvement of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCH+A); human resources development, community processes; information and knowledge; drugs and diagnostics and supply chain management has helped in the remarkable achievements in merely one year," Thamphang said. Arunachal Pradesh has also earned the distinction as one of the better performing states in India in COVID-19 vaccination coverage among beneficiaries. As on Monday, a total of 10,09,000 beneficiaries (77 per cent of total population) have been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 5,18,089 (51 per cent of total population) with second dose of the vaccine, official sources said here. PTI UPL RG RG