The largest increases in immunization coverage have been for polio vaccinations, undoubtedly due to the success of the Pulse Polio Immunization Campaigns, but 37 percent of young children had still not received the recommended three doses by the time of the survey. Childhood mortality One in every 11 children in India dies before reaching age 5. Childhood mortality is particularly high for children born less than two years after a previous birth, indicating that children would have a much better chance of surviving if births were spaced further apart. Continuing discrimination against girls in health care and other areas is evidenced by the fact that at ages 1-4, girls have almost a 50 percent higher chance of dying than do boys. One-third of women who have heard of AIDS do not know any way to avoid it.
Girls are less likely than boys to go to school, but the gap has been closing over time.