Maharashtra - Around 25,000 children under 6 die each year

[Ronan Kelly]

Mumbai, Thane record 3rd highest number of child deaths in Maharashtra
Chittaranjan Tembhekar | Dec 14, 2013, 12.57 AM IST

...
However, clarified women and child welfare minister Varsha Gaikwad, these deaths were not due to malnourishment alone, but were caused by diseases, such as pneumonia, malaria, high temperature, pre-natal or neonatal issues, asthama, sickle cell, jaundice, cerebral fever, dengue; and mishaps too.

...
According to the statistics that Gaikwad tabled on the floor of the House, a total of 5,400 children between one year and six years of age have died in 2012-13. This number is slightly higher than the number of such deaths (5,344) registered in the year 2011-12.

During the last five fiscals, the highest (6,604) number of deaths of children in this age group was registered in the year 2010-11. In 2009-10, 6,498 such deaths were registered and in 2008-09 the number was 6,273.

The number of child deaths from prenatal stage up to one year has dropped to 19,020 in the year 2011-12 from 21,166 in 2010-11. In 2009-10, the number was 21,699 and in 2008-09 it was 21,543.

Gaikwad said superstition, wrong practices, illiteracy, marriages of underage children and malnutrition were the main reasons contributing to the deaths of children in tribal areas. She said that to arrest the deaths due to malnutrition, they have increased the supply of syrups, tonics, micronutrients and other ayurvedic medicines in remote areas other, besides the nutritious food offered under the mid-day meal scheme.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...eaths-in-Maharashtra/articleshow/27314552.cms

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Maharashtra - Around 25,000 children under 6 die each year

Infant Deaths High but Falling Steadily in India

by Bidita Debnath on December 13, 2013 at 11:36 PM General Health News
Twenty-five year old Suman Chandel lies on a bed in a clinic in remote northern India and smiles with relief having previously lost two babies to diarrhoea and dysentery.
...
India has long had a dismal record of deaths from preventable illness; the nation accounts for 29 percent of global first-day deaths for example -- or 309,000 newborn deaths a year, says nonprofit group Save the Children.

But figures from the census office published in October suggests that after 15 years of booming economic growth and explosive modernisation, India may finally be turning the corner.
...
Paul Vinod, head of paediatrics at one of India's most prestigious teaching hospitals, says the figures speak for themselves - infant mortality rates have dropped from 80 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 42 deaths in 2012.

Despite the improvements, India still accounts for 22 percent of the world's deaths of children under five, and more than one quarter of all newborn deaths, the UN, WHO and World Bank estimate in a joint 2013 report.

And public expenditure on health remains woeful, accounting for just 1.2 percent of gross domestic product, according to Vinod from AIIMS hospital in New Delhi, citing government figures.
...

Read more: Infant Deaths High but Falling Steadily in India | Medindia http://www.medindia.net/news/infant...-steadily-in-india-129117-1.htm#ixzz2nRu10Lgw

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Maharashtra - Around 25,000 children under 6 die each year

58 infants, 9 mothers die at Yavatmal in 4 months
Vaibhav Ganjapure,TNN | Dec 19, 2013, 02.48 AM IST

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra government admitted on Wednesday that about 58 infants and nine mothers died in Yavatmal during period from July-August to October. Replying to a query by Buldhana MLA Vijayraj Shinde, public health and family welfare minister Suresh Shetty stated that they had conducted an inquiry and found that such large number of infant deaths were due to various reasons. This includes low nutrition, premature births, and low weight. He added that mothers died due to haemorrhagic shock and septicaemia.
...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...Yavatmal-in-4-months/articleshow/27610016.cms