Success in UP paramount to ending preventable child deaths in India
Lucknow,
2nd March 2013:
Every 19 seconds, a child dies in India due to causes which are easily preventable
such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal complications and malnutrition. Out of
this, the state of Uttar Pradesh carries one of the highest burdens of child
deaths in the country.
India has made slow progress in bringing
down child mortality to 44 per 1000 live births. If it is to bend the curve,
success in UP is paramount. This was unanimously agreed at the “No child born
to Die” summit held in Lucknow on Saturday.
Organised by Save the Children,
the Leadership summit brought together a wide range of stakeholders from national
and state government to public health experts, academia, civil society, media
and the private sector, with an aim to deliver solid commitments towards child
survival in the state.
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,
Akhilesh Yadav who chaired the summit agreed that quick affirmative action was
needed to turn the tide on child health in the state.
Recently the Ashirwad scheme was
also launched as a part of the Child Health Guarantee Plan (CHGP) where
children suffering from anemia would be offered iron tablets in the preliminary
phase.
“The neonatal mortality rate in UP is
undoubtedly the highest in India. But the state has an opportunity to show the
global community that it can repeat the success it got in polio eradication,”
added Mr. Harpal Singh, Chairman of Save the Children.
The summit was a follow-up to
India’s Call to Action Summit for Child Survival and Development held in
Chennai recently. While, that meeting witnessed various stakeholders arriving
at a set of agreed actions, and pledging commitments to achieve India’s Goals
for child survival and development, the Leadership Summit in Lucknow aimed to translate
the learnings to trigger real action to address the issue of child deaths in
the state.
Mr.
Ahmed Hassan, Minister
of state for Health. and Mr.
JitinPrasada, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for HRD were also a part of
this summit.
STATISTICS:
|
·
In
2005-06 UP had an Infant mortality rate (IMR) of 73 as compared to India
average of 57 2. Mortality trends have declined in the state, IMR is 573, but
still remains high as compared to the national average of 44.4
|
·
In
U.P, 50% of the ever married women between 15-49 years are anaemic.
|
·
74%
of children between 6-9 months are anaemic.
|
·
The
proportion of stunted children under the age of 3 which is 52% (NFHS-3), is a
decline of 9% since NFHS 2.
|
·
The
proportion of under-weight children in the state has only improved from 48%
in 1998-99 to 42% in 2005-06, a decline of only 3%.
|
·
The
proportion of wasted children has increased 3%, making it 20%.
|
·
On
the basis of the Hunger Index 8, U.P has been ranked 9 among 17 major states
of the country and the severity of the problem is categorised to be alarming.
Out of the total 71 districts 289 require priority attention from the
Government to ensure food security in the state.
|
About
Save the Children campaign – No Child born to die
Save the Children is running a
global five year campaign across 50 countries aimed at reducing child deaths in
India and around the world. The campaign is linked to UN Millennium Goal 4 that
calls for cutting child mortality by 2/3 by 2015. India along with 188 nations
signed up to 8 Millennium Development Goals in the year 2000. India has the
highest number of children dying anywhere in the world. We lose 16.5 lakh
children every year due to easily preventable illnesses such as diarrhoea and
pneumonia. Malnutrition is the single biggest killer of children under the age
of five. One out of three children in India suffers from malnutrition.
About
Save the Children
Save the Children is the leading,
independent child rights organisation working across 120 countries across the
world. In India we work in 12 states on programmes that are aimed at reducing
infant and child mortality, improving children’s nutritional status, making
quality education accessible and protecting them from exploitation and abuse.
Our programmes are being run closely with governments, the United Nations
system and non-government organizations.
* * *
For further media
related queries please contact:
Vishal Mishra
Kaivalya Communication
0-8756-000-222
vishal@kaivalyapr.com
Comments
Post a Comment