AHMEDABAD: The infant mortality rate in Gujarat is rising as maternal health goes for a toss amid increasing malnutrition.
Gujarat now ranks second in the country for the number of children admitted to Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres and the number has doubled in the last three years, which is a major concern.
Thousands of children under the age of five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the state, out of these 41,632 have been admitted to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Center in the last three years, according to the statistics provided by the government in the Lok Sabha.
Responding to a question from MPs Dhanush M Kumar and Selvam G in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Health Ministry stated that the number of children under the age of five suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications admitted in NRCs across 29 States/UTs stood at 1.04 lakh in 2020-21.
In 2021-22 the number of such cases was at 1.32 lakhs, 1.89 lakh in 2022-23, and 56,000 in 2023-24 (up to June 2023).
The number of cases of 'Severe Acute Malnutrition' in Gujarat was 9,606 in 2020-21, 13,048 in 2021-22, and 18,978 in 2022-23.
This year up to June 2023 5,694 children were admitted to Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres indicating a worsening case of malnutrition in Gujarat.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Hiren Banker said, "In Gujarat, an average of 12 lakh children is born every year, of which 30,000 die every year even today. This is the reality. In the last five years, according to the statistics of the government itself, 7,15,515 children were malnourished.”
“In the BJP government, thousands of children below the age of five years have to be admitted to Nutrition rehabilitation centres instead of being brought up in the mother's laps. This is a matter of concern for Gujarat,” he added.
Gujarat ranked fourth in terms of stunted children, according to data from NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey). Thirty-nine per cent of children in the state are underweight for their age.
Furthermore, Gujarat ranked second in terms of wasted and underweight children, at 25.1 per cent and 39.7 per cent, respectively. This reflects the state’s poor performance in terms of health metrics.