India’s under-five mortality rate has reached the global average of 39 deaths per 1,000 live births. However, despite this alignment with global figures, the persistently high number of infant and neonatal deaths, especially in comparison to India’s neighboring countries, highlights the substantial challenges in addressing newborn health.

Causes for Child Mortality:

Household Food Insecurity and Illiteracy:

• Children from economically disadvantaged households are nearly twice as likely to face mortality before the age of five.
• Maternal illiteracy, especially the lack of secondary or higher education, contributes significantly to child mortality rates.

Gender Disparities:

• Lower access for girls to effective prevention and treatment health services results in marked gender differences in mortality.

Limited Access to Health Services:

• In 2017, approximately 2.9 million children under one year in India had not received the first dose of vaccination, highlighting poor access to health services.

Unsafe Drinking Water:

• Disparities in health indicators, such as infant mortality, reveal significant inequality in access to healthcare and sanitation, exacerbated by a lack of safe drinking water.

Early Marriages and Teenage Pregnancies:

• Early marriages, particularly of girls, contribute to challenges in delivering healthy children.
• High rates of anaemia among pregnant women, low nutrition levels, and over-burdened healthcare facilities further compound the issue.

Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding Practices:

• Poor breastfeeding practices and inadequate complementary feeding impact child health.
• Ignorance about nutritional needs and recurrent infections exacerbate the situation.

Environmental and Geographical Factors:

• Various environmental, geographical, agricultural, and cultural factors contribute to malnutrition among children.

Measles Vaccination Gap:

• Millions of Indian children do not receive the measles vaccine through routine immunization activities, highlighting gaps in the national immunization program

Government Initiatives to Combat Infant Mortality and Enhance Vaccine Coverage

Promotion of Institutional Deliveries:

• Implementation of Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) incentivizes institutional deliveries.
• Pregnant women delivering in public health institutions receive free ante-natal check-ups, delivery (including Caesarean section), post-natal care, and treatment for sick infants up to one year.

Strengthening Delivery Points:

• Enhancement of delivery points for comprehensive Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) Services.
• Focus on essential newborn care at all delivery points, establishment of Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU), Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSU), and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) units.
• Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) provided by ASHAs to improve child rearing practices.

India Newborn Action Plan (INAP):

• Launched in 2014 with the goal of achieving “Single Digit Neonatal Mortality Rate” and “Single Digit Stillbirth Rate” by 2030.

Breastfeeding Promotion:

• Encouragement of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.
• Promotion of appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• MAA-Mothers’ Absolute Affection programme introduced in August 2016 to enhance breastfeeding practices through mass media and capacity building of healthcare providers.

Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs):

• Observance to provide maternal and child health services.
• Aims to create awareness on maternal and child care, including health and nutrition education.

Universal Immunization Programme (UIP):

• Supports vaccination against life-threatening diseases through initiatives like “Mission Indradhanush.”
• Introduction of Pentavalent vaccine nationwide.

Measles Rubella Campaign:

• Undertaken in select states for children aged 9 months to 15 years to eliminate measles by 2020.

Name-based Tracking System:

• Mother and Child Tracking System ensures tracking of mothers and children up to two years of age.
• Ensures complete antenatal, intranatal, postnatal care, and adherence to immunization schedules.Top of Form