As a developing country, India is confronted with a number of infectious illnesses that can be harmful to health, including pneumonia, HIV, malaria, diarrhea, and other conditions that significantly raise the risk of newborn, infant, and child mortality. Poor access to immunizations and inadequate maternity and newborn care services are the main causes of these fatalities 1. Furthermore, the accessibility to health and health-related social indicators for inhabitants is threatened by population increase and fast urbanization, particularly with regard to child healthcare facilities 2, 3. Furthermore, child mortality is a serious public health issue that is influenced by climate change and environmental factors like temperature, precipitation, CO2 emissions, rainfall, air pollution, and droughts in addition to socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, housing attributes, and health-related variables 4, 5, 6. Geographically speaking, each of these attributes is location-specific 7, 8. Furthermore, child mortality is a serious public health issue that is influenced by climate change and environmental factors like temperature, precipitation, CO2 emissions, rainfall, air pollution, and droughts in addition to socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, housing attributes, and health-related variables 4, 5, 6. Geographically speaking, each of these characteristics varies depending on the place 7, 8.

The likelihood of Neonatal, Infant and child mortality has been demonstrated to be decreased by elements like raising parental education, household wealth status, access to clean drinking water, restroom facilities, and media exposure 9. According to 10, there is a direct correlation between child mortality and poverty indicators such as income inequality and gross national income. Asif MF et al. 11 found that access to maternal health care services and appropriate spacing between pregnancies significantly lowers the risk of infant mortality. Researchers and medical professionals are encouraged to look into child mortality from a spatial perspective because of the significant impact that these geographic differences in access to health indicators have on the Neonatal, Infant and child mortality rate. This emerging topic has gained considerable attention among health academicians. Therefore, there is a pressing need to identify from spatial perspective by examine the state level variations in neonatal, infant and child mortality rates to promote health care services apart from raising various socio-economic and other health-related social indicators on child mortality.

The study is based on secondary data collected from National Family Health Survey- 5 (2019-21) and descriptive in nature. Data in the present study relates to neonatal, infant and child mortality and covers Indiabesides its 11 major states and 3 union territories.

Knowledge about variations in neonatal, infant and child mortality rates in major states and union territories shows the health status of children and access of primary health care in different parts of India. The substantial differences in the neonatal, infant and child mortality indicators are important for the evaluation health care performance and health outcomes.Keeping this in view, variations in neonatal, infant and child mortality ratesacross India discussed briefly hereunder

The present paper investigates the spatial variations in neonatal, infant, and child mortality rates at the state level. These rates had drastically decreased between the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 periods. Similarly, during the NFHS-5 period, the rates of neonatal, infant, and child mortality were higher in rural areas and most states other than union territories. It might result from differences in the physical layout, developmental trajectory, accessibility, and use of health care services across states and union territories. The results of this study are highly valuable to public health professionals and policy planners because they offer crucial information for setting priorities for resolving disparities in neonatal, infant, and child mortality rates among the states and union territories that are the subject of the research. Putting policies into place that will help them financially, ultimately hoping to lower the rates of neonatal, infant, and child mortality. Furthermore, the results of the study have confirmed that improving postnatal care for the newborn and putting better drinking water systems in place in rural areas have significantly lowered the rates of neonatal, infant, and child mortality in India. Improving the accessibility of neonatal, infant, and child (and maternal) healthcare is urgently needed.