Child Survival in India: A Serious Issue

The level of child undernutrition remains unacceptable throughout the world, with 90 per cent of the developing world’s chronically undernourished (stunted) children living in Asia and Africa. Detrimental and often undetected until severe, undernutrition undermines the survival, growth and development of children and women, and diminishes the strength and capacity of nations. With persistently high levels of undernutrition in the developing world, vital opportunities to save millions of lives are being lost, and many more millions of children are not growing and developing to their full potential. Nutrition is a core pillar of human development and concrete, large-scale programming not only can reduce the burden of undernutrition and deprivation in countries but also can advance the progress of nations.

Fast Facts: In India 20 per cent of children under five years of age suffer from wasting due to acute undernutrition. More than one third of the world’s children who are wasted live in India. Forty three per cent of Indian children under five years are underweight and 48 per cent (i.e. 61 million children) are stunted due to chronic undernutrition, India accounts for more than 3 out of every 10 stunted children in the world. Undernutrition is substantially higher in rural than in urban areas. Short birth intervals are associated with higher levels of undernutrition. The per centage of children who are severely underweight is almost five times higher among children whose mothers have no education than among children whose mothers have 12 or more years of schooling. Undernutrition is more common for children of mothers who are undernourished themselves (i.e. body mass index below 18.5) than for children whose mothers are not undernourished. Children from scheduled tribes have the poorest nutritional status on almost every measure and the high prevalence of wasting in this group (28 per cent) is of particular concern. • India has the highest number of low birth weight babies per year at an estimated 7.4 million. • Only 25 per cent of newborns were put to the breast within one hour of birth. • Less than half of children (46 per cent) under six months of age are exclusively breastfed. • Only 20 per cent children age 6-23 months are fed appropriately according to all three recommended practices for infant and young child feeding. • 70 per cent children age 6- 59 months are anaemic. Children of mothers who are severely anaemic are seven times as likely to be severely anaemic as children of mothers who are not anaemic. • Only half (51 per cent) of households use adequately iodized salt. • Only one third (33 per cent) Indian children receive any service from an anganwadi centre; less than 25per cent receive supplementary foods through ICDS; and only 18 per cent have their weights measured in an AWC.
Source: UNICEF 

Innovative Solutions to Save Lives

During Women’s History Month, it’s important to stop and reflect on the incredible progress women have made the past few decades. Perhaps nowhere have results been more impressive than in women’s health and the health and wellbeing of their children. I am optimistic this progress will continue as the tools and strategies that have been effective in accomplishing these amazing feats are still improving and rolling out in a number of countries around the world.

Take India, for instance, where I am visiting this week. As a result of its large population and many other factors, India has the highest burden of maternal and newborn deaths globally (22% and 28% respectively) and almost half of the world’s malnourished children (more than 55 million). The rest of the health data paint the same picture.
But what excites me is that India is also a hotbed of innovation. Led by the national government, India has taken an innovative approach to improving the delivery of all key family health services, ranging from antenatal and postnatal care to family planning and immunization.
The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), India’s flagship national health program targeting rural populations, is a great example. Created in 2005, NRHM has prioritized maternal and child health and empowered health workers to reach women and children in the most remote villages. The program is particularly good at taking ideas and spreading them across India, leveraging innovation at state and local levels. One of those ideas alone, the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)—a conditional cash transfer program for pregnant mothers—has driven millions more women into facilities to give birth, resulting in a proven reduction in neonatal deaths in the country.
The success of NRHM was likely an important factor in the government’s recent decision to increase the overall health budget by 20%.
Submitted by Melinda Gates: http://blog.usaid.gov/2011/03/innovative-solutions-to-save-lives/