Lok Sabha Question No. 124 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-15
Subject: Malnutrition Deaths
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: NINONG ERING, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 124 TO BE ANSWERED ON   15 TH DECEMBER, 2017

## MALNUTRITION DEATHS

## 124. SHRI NINONG ERING: SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has noticed  that  malnutrition  kills  more  people than  any  other specific disease in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether the  relative  neglect  of malnutrition  reflects  a  broader  shift  from preventive  to curative healthcare and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of concrete steps taken/ propos d to be taken by the Government to address the problem of malnutrition in an effective way?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a): Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death but can increase morbidity and mortality reducing resistance to infections .
- (b): Addressing  malnutrition  which  includes  under  nutrition  and  over -nutrition,  is  a preventive  strategy,  as  it  has  the  potential  to  minimize  the  health  care  costs  by  red requirement for curative health care.

Addressing  under - nutri tion  reduces  morbidity  and  mortality  due  to  communicable diseases e.g tuberculosis, diarrhoea and pneumonia in children and micronutrient defic such as anemia, Vitamin A deficiency etc.

Addressing over - nutrition can curtail the disease burden due t o non-communicable disease conditions e.g diabetes, stroke, hypertension and coronary heart diseases (CHD), c etc. by reducing over -weight and obesity.

- Government  of  India  is  implementing  various  schemes  and  programmes  to  address malnutrition in an effective way.
- MoHFW  under  the  umbrella  of  National  Health  Mission  (NHM)  has  implemented following schemes and programmes which address the issue of malnutrition:
- o Promotion of appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices that include early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months of age ASHA  worker  and  health  care  provider  at  health  facilities.  In  order  to  promote support breastfeeding, Government  has implemented ' MAA -Mothers'  Abs olute Affection' programme to improve breastfeeding coverage and appropriate breastfeeding practices in the country. A greater emphasis is laid on capacity building of the workers on lactation management at both community and facility levels and 360 degree IEC campaign to create awareness regarding breastfeeding.
- o Treatment of sick children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) at special units ca theNutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs), set up at public health facilities. Presently 1150  suchNRCs  are  functional  in  States  and  UTs  admitting  around  1.8  lakh  SAM children annually. Provision of incentive for ASHA for referral and follow - up of SAM children discharged from NRC is also made.
- o Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) for children till the age of 5 years.
- o 'National Iron Plus Initiative' has  been  launched  as  an  effective  strategy  for supplementation  and  treatment  of  anaemia  in  children,  adolescents,  pregnant  a lactating women, in programme mode through life cycle a pproach. Specific program to prevent  and  treat  micronutrient  deficiencies  through Iron  &  Folic  Acid  (IFA) supplementation across life stages are:
-  Bi- weekly IFA syrup supplementation to children 6 -59 months.
-  Weekly IFA tablet supplementation to children 5 -10 years and adolescents 10 -19 years
-  IFA tablets to pregnant and lactating women.
- o National Deworming Day is a fixed day strategy to administer Albendazole tablets to the children in the age group of 1 - 19 years through the platform of AWCs and S chools. More than 75 crores doses have been administered since 2014.
- o In order to increase awareness about the use of ORS and Zinc in diarrhoea, an Inten Diarrhoea  Control  Fortnight  (IDCF)  is  being  observed  during  July - August,  with  the ultimate aim o f 'zero child deaths due to childhood diarrhoea'.
- o Incentive are provided to ASHA for tracking of Low birth weight babies .
- o Promotion for intake of iodised salt and monitoring salt quality through testing under National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme .
- o Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) systematic efforts are undertaken to detect nutrition deficiency among children and adolescents r espectively.
- o Mission Indradhanush: Launched on 25th December, 2014 with the objective to ensur high coverage of children with all vaccines in the entire country with a high fo reaching  the  unreached  to  achieve  90%  full  immunization  coverage  of  India by  year 2020.
- o Rashtriya  Bal  Swasthya  Karyakram  (RBSK)  provides  child  health  screening  for  30 common health conditions by expanding the reach of mobile health teams at block le and establishment of District Early Intervention Centres (DEICs) at the di stricts for early interventions services.
- o Village Health and Nutrition Days and Mother and Child Protection Card are the joint initiative of the Ministry of Health & Family welfare and the Ministry of Woman Child Development for addressing the nutrit ion concerns in children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.  Village Health and Nutrition Days  (VHNDs) are monthly day held  at  village  level  in  Anganwadi  centre  to  increase  the  awareness  and  bring desired changes in the dietary practices includin g the promotion of breastfeeding.
- MWCD has implemented the following schemes to address malnutrition:
- o Under Umbrella ICDS scheme of MWCD Supplementary Nutrition Programme is being implemented through platform of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) for addressing under - nutrition in pregnant and lactating women, under - 6 child en and out - of - school adolescent girls.
- o Recently National Nutrition Mission has been approved under MWCD for addressing malnutrition status of the country in a comprehensive manner.