BELAGAVI: To ensure optimal nutrition for children and reduce mortality, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao inaugurated the Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) campaign, and another initiative to set up four more Mother’s Milk Banks, comprehensive location management centres (CLMC) in Belagavi.
Under the SAANS campaign, the state aims to reduce mortality due to childhood pneumonia to less than three per 1,000 live births by 2025. ASHA workers will be screening children under the age of five for pneumonia symptoms, and counselling mothers on the importance of breastfeeding and the danger signs of pneumonia.
The four new CLMCs will be established at Belagavi, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi and Bengaluru in the next two months. The minister highlighted that milk banks play a crucial role in promoting breastfeeding and ensuring that premature and sick infants receive adequate nutrition.
They help improve infant health outcomes, reduce neonatal mortality rates, and enhance overall child development.
In alignment with these initiatives, the government also plans to introduce four neonatal ambulances, one for every revenue division of the state.