prasad1
Active member
As the leading economic power in the region, India has a moral obligation to ensure that its children have access to life saving interventions like vaccines
At 400 million, India is home to the world’s largest child population. More than 50 per cent of the children are malnourished and almost 50 per cent of them do not attend school. That’s the state of our country, soon to have the world’s largest young population.
In 2012, almost 14 lakh Indian children under the age of five died due to preventable diseases including pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles. Let’s put this into perspective by doing a comparison with the number of children who died just two decades back.
In 1990, 28.5 lakh children in India died before reaching their fifth birthday. Despite the decline in child mortality, a large number of children are still dying, the death of each individual child being more than just a number. India continues to be responsible for the highest number of child deaths in the world, amounting to 21 per cent of the total global burden of child mortality.
The official estimate of the country’s under-five mortality rate is 56 per 1000 live births, as of 2012. This shows that India is far behind from achieving its millennium development goal of 42 per 1000 live births by 2015. India’s Under five Mortality Rate compares poorly with that of countries in its own neighbourhood; Bangladesh (41) and Nepal (42). It is also worth noting that both have already achieved their respective MDG 4s, unlike India.
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It is really a historic moment for India to be turning the corner on child health. So much progress has been made on the polio front and we are at the cusp of eradicating the disease. Emphasis is being placed on ensuring that children grow up to lead healthy and productive lives. As a leader vaccine producer, India is poised to move forward as a world leader. Now is the time to make the most out of the government’s decision and do what is needed to make the policy a reality and achieve what has long been missed for India’s children and the nation. As the leading economic power in the region, India has a moral obligation to ensure that every one of its children has access to life saving interventions like vaccines.
A need to turn the corner on child health - The Hindu
At 400 million, India is home to the world’s largest child population. More than 50 per cent of the children are malnourished and almost 50 per cent of them do not attend school. That’s the state of our country, soon to have the world’s largest young population.
In 2012, almost 14 lakh Indian children under the age of five died due to preventable diseases including pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles. Let’s put this into perspective by doing a comparison with the number of children who died just two decades back.
In 1990, 28.5 lakh children in India died before reaching their fifth birthday. Despite the decline in child mortality, a large number of children are still dying, the death of each individual child being more than just a number. India continues to be responsible for the highest number of child deaths in the world, amounting to 21 per cent of the total global burden of child mortality.
The official estimate of the country’s under-five mortality rate is 56 per 1000 live births, as of 2012. This shows that India is far behind from achieving its millennium development goal of 42 per 1000 live births by 2015. India’s Under five Mortality Rate compares poorly with that of countries in its own neighbourhood; Bangladesh (41) and Nepal (42). It is also worth noting that both have already achieved their respective MDG 4s, unlike India.
..............................
It is really a historic moment for India to be turning the corner on child health. So much progress has been made on the polio front and we are at the cusp of eradicating the disease. Emphasis is being placed on ensuring that children grow up to lead healthy and productive lives. As a leader vaccine producer, India is poised to move forward as a world leader. Now is the time to make the most out of the government’s decision and do what is needed to make the policy a reality and achieve what has long been missed for India’s children and the nation. As the leading economic power in the region, India has a moral obligation to ensure that every one of its children has access to life saving interventions like vaccines.
A need to turn the corner on child health - The Hindu
