Lok Sabha Question No. 2784 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-12
Subject: Child Deaths
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO.2784

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2021

## CHILD DEATHS

## 2784. KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  true  that  India  has  reported  the highest number of child deaths globally;
- (b) if  so,  the  number  of  child  deaths  during  the  last  ten  years  and  the  reasons therefor; and
- (c) the corrective  steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a)  to  (c)  As  per  latest  available  data  from  Sample  Registration  System  of  Registrar General of India 2018, U5MR for India is 36/1000 live births in 2018.

(b) The status of under 5 mortality rate at National level for the last 10 years (per 1000 Live Births) is as under:

|   Year |   Mortality Rate |
|--------|------------------|
|   2009 |               64 |
|   2010 |               59 |
|   2011 |               55 |
|   2012 |               52 |
|   2013 |               49 |
|   2014 |               45 |
|   2015 |               43 |
|   2016 |               39 |
|   2017 |               37 |
|   2018 |               36 |

The causes of child mortality in India as per the SRS reports (2010-13) vary from:

Prematurity & low birth weight (29.8%), Pneumonia (17.1%), Diarrheal diseases (8.6%), other non-communicable diseases (8.3%), Birth asphyxia & birth trauma (8.2%), Injuries (4.6%),  congenital  anomalies  (4.4%),  Ill-defined  or  cause  unknown  (4.4%),  Acute bacterial sepsis and severe infections (3.6%), Fever of unknown origin (2.5%), all other remaining causes (8.4%).

In  order  to  bring  down  the  child  mortality,  the  Government  of  India  is  supporting  all States/UTs under National Health Mission in implementation of Reproductive, Maternal,

Newborn, Child, Adolescent health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategies. Special steps/interventions related to reduction of child mortality include:

-  Sick Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) established at District Hospital and Medical College level for care of sick and small babies.
-  Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSUs) established at First Referral Units (FRUs)/ Community Health Centres (CHC) for care of sick and small babies.
-  Under  Home  Based  Newborn  Care  (HBNC)  and  Home-Based  Care  of  Young Children  (HBYC)  program,  home  visits  by  ASHAs  are  undertaken  to  improve child  rearing  practices  and  to  identify  sick  new-born  and  young  children  in  the community.
-  In  addition  to  above, Early  initiation  and  exclusive  breastfeeding  for  first  six months and appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices  promoted under Mothers' Absolute Affection (MAA).
-  Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) initiative   launched  for  reduction  of  Childhood  morbidity  and  mortality  due  to Pneumonia.
-  Universal  Immunization  Programme  (UIP)   to  provide  vaccination  to  children against life threatening diseases
-  Children  from  0  to  18  years  of  age   screened  for  30  health  conditions  (i.e. Diseases, Deficiencies, Defects and Developmental delay) under "Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram" (RBSK) to improve child survival.
-  Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs)  set up at public health facilities to treat and manage the children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)  complications.
-  Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight / Defeat Diarrhoea (D2) initiative launched for promoting ORS and Zinc use and for reducing diarrheal deaths.
-  Anaemia Mukt Bharat  (AMB)  strategy  as  a  part  of  Poshan  Abhiyan    to  tackle anaemia in school going adolescents inter alia
-  Name  based  tracking  of  mothers  and  children  till  two  years  of  age  is  done through RCH portal to ensure complete antenatal, intranatal, postnatal care and immunization as per schedule.
-  Several capacity building programs of health care providers are undertaken for improving maternal and child survival and health outcomes.

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