NEW DELHI: The first comprehensive report of district-level trends of child mortality and child growth failure in India from 2000 to 2017 shows that the under-5 mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate in the first month of life have dropped substantially in India since 2000, but inequality between states has gone up.
While there is a 5-6 fold variation in the rates between states, there is also a 8-11 fold variation between the districts of India, noted the report by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Public Health Foundation of India published in The Lancet.
While U5MR and NMR have been decreasing in almost all districts of India, the progress in this decline has been highly variable because of which the inequality in these rates has increased between districts within many states.
The estimates say 68 per of the under-5 deaths in India can be attributed to child and maternal malnutrition, 83 per cent of the neonatal deaths to low birth weight and short gestation.
“These research findings have shown that India has made positive strides in protecting the lives of newborns over the last two decades,” said Dr V K Paul, member (health) Niti Aayog. “Introduction of contextually relevant multi-sectorial actions by Central and state governments like maternal nutrition programmes during pregnancy, access to skilled health providers during childbirth, and famly or community-based care through postnatal home visits have shown to have made a difference.”