On the world map, India is a growing economy but it is a global problem on open defecation map, said a new report released by the United Nations. It said that 626 million people still defecate in the open in India. In China, 14 million and 7 million people in Brazil resort to open defecation.

Nearly 60 percent of those defecating in the open live in India, the report said. “This huge number is a widespread health hazard and a global scandal,” the report said.

Another major indicator, (maternal mortality rate, MMR), India is most likely to miss target set by the millennium development goals (MDGs), said a new report released by the United Nations on Monday.

According to the latest data released by the UN titled ‘The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012’ said that India recorded around 57,000 maternal deaths in 2010. Numerically this figure translates into one death every 10 minutes.

In the last one decade, India has reduced the rate of MMR from 437 per one lakh live births in 1999 to 212 in 2010. By 2015, which is also MDGs target year, India has to reduce MMR by 109 per one lakh live births. In fact, the target is to reduce MMR is 103 per one lakh live births in the next three years. It is goal five of the MDGs.

“An estimated 2,87,000 maternal deaths occurred in 2010 worldwide,” said the UN report. Two regions - the sub-Saharan Africa (56 percent) and South Asia (29 percent) accounts for 85 percent of the global maternal death burden in 2010, the report added. According to the definition, maternal deaths are defined as the number of women who die during pregnancy or within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy

Of 850 million people without adequate nutrition, 237 million live in India—slightly more than one in four, according to the report.

While India may miss to achieve some targets, the report suggests all is not wrong as the country has performed better in poverty reduction, reduced incidence of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis infections, and improved access to drinking water.

The report said three important targets -- poverty, slums and water -- have been met three years ahead of the 2015 deadline.

The eight MDGs include eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, and ensuring environmental sustainability. The target year for achieving MDGs is 2015 and it was launched in 2000.

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