Urban Child Mortality in East and North-East India: An Update in Light of SDG 3.2 Targets

Even though child mortality has significantly declined worldwide in the past few decades, it remains a public health issue in developing countries. This study seeks to identify the changes (from 2015–2016 to 2019–2021) in urban child mortality and spatial disparity in neonatal, infant and under-five mortality with regard to the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) by 2030 and to investigate the possible reasons of disparity in urban child mortality in the east and north-east Indian states. Temporal analysis revealed that both urban infant and under-five mortality have increased across five states (Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and Tripura) in this region. Urban areas in many states have not yet sustained their child mortality as per the targets. The north-eastern states have a much higher performance in reducing overall child mortality than the eastern states of India. Several households and sociocultural, demographic and economic factors, along with health and health care-related factors, have become major influencing factors on child mortality in high-focus states. Efforts to formulate strategies focusing on the identified problems of preventable child deaths and to achieve the SDG targets on urban child mortality are needed in these high-focus states.