AMRAT FOUNDATION

Most countries, including India, will miss the UN target to reduce child mortality in the under fives by as much as two-thirds by 2015, researchers said today. According to the latest estimates published in The Lancet journal, complications from premature births and pneumonia are now the leading causes of death in children under five years, together responsible for nearly 2 million deaths in 2013. Researchers led by Professor Robert Black, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in US, examined what caused an estimated 6.3 million deaths of newborn babies (neonates) and children under five years in 2013. They found that complications from preterm birth were the largest single cause, responsible for 9,65,000 deaths in under-fives, with pneumonia responsible for a further 9,35,000 deaths, 'Medicalxpress.Com' reported.

AMRAT FOUNDATION

• Approximately 1.83 million children under five years of age die each year in India. This is the highest number anywhere in the world.
• The annual rate of decline in child mortality between 1990 and 2008 has been 2.25 per cent. As per the 2015 target, India needs to reduce under-5 mortality to 39/1000. The required rate of decline from 2009 to 2015 per year has gone up to 6.28 per cent.
• One-third of all malnourished children live in India.
• 48 per cent of children under five are stunted and 43 per cent are underweight in India.
• More than two-thirds of infants die in the very first month. Ninety per cent of these deaths are due to easily preventable causes like pneumonia and diarrhea.
• A child�s chances of survival varies enormously simply because she is born in one State rather than the other. For instance, the under-five mortality rate in Madhya Pradesh is 92 per 1000 live births, in Kerala it is only 14 per 1000.
• Low cost interventions could reduce neonatal mortality by up to 70 per cent if provided universally.

AMRAT FOUNDATION

By demonstrating political will and the right policies, MDG4 can be achieved in India. The good schemes in place need to be matched by effective implementation. And there is enough experience in India proving that low-cost interventions can make the difference between life and death for a child