BENGALURU: The state government will organise a two-day hands-on training programme every three months at the divisional level for neonatologists and paediatricians for capacity building and to bring down the number of neonatal deaths.
At the national trainer training course on revised accreditation guidelines of the National Neonatology Forum (NNF) of India on Tuesday, Dr C R Srinivas Gowda, Deputy Director, Child Health, Government of Karnataka, said, “At present, the infant mortality rate is 31 per 1,000 live births and the national average is 42 deaths. Of this, 60 per cent deaths occur within 28 days. Hence, the department will upgrade 33 Special New Born Care Units (SNCUs) across the state and will give special training to staff nurses and specialists.”
Dr Shantharam Balige, president, NNF, Karnataka, said the forum will have a larger say and give suggestions to governments to improve the standards of neonatal care.
NNF members later gave a memorandum to Health Minister U T Khader to support NNFK financially to take the programme to rural areas.
“We will help these forums with a view to curb infant deaths as it is the responsibility of the state government. By 2020, the state will try to lower infant deaths to single digit for every 1,000 live births,” said Khader.