India failing to curb MMR and IMR

India is failing its women and children and is crawling towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which targets to cut child death rates by two-thirds and maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990-2015.

According to a report that tracks the progress made by 68 priority countries, which account for 97% of maternal and child deaths worldwide, only 16 (24%) were on track to meet the MDG compared to 7 of 60 (12%) in 2005. India, however, is not one of them.

In fact, India's progress towards MDG target in child mortality, in the report 'The Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival' published in the medical journal 'Lancet', has been found to be "insufficient" and its level of maternal mortality has been termed "high".

While India's target under the MDG for mortality of children under age 5 is 38 per 1,000 live births, the number of children who die before their fifth birthday stands at 76 at present.

Infant mortality rate in India stands at 57 per 1,000 live births while neonatal mortality rate - deaths in the first month of life - stands at 43 per 1,000 live births.

Early initiation of breastfeeding benefits both mother and newborns. Yet, only 46% infants under six months are being exclusively breastfed. Also, only 41% births have been registered.

Speaking to TOI from Cape Town, Dr Francisco Songane, director of WHO's partnership for maternal, newborn and child health, said: "India, along with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia, contribute over 50% of all maternal and child deaths globally. What's worse, India is not making sufficient progress. India's population is massive and even if the ratio of maternal and child mortality may not be high, the numbers are staggering."

Dr Songane added: "India is among the 26 countries in the list of 68 where progress has been found to be insufficient. India has to scale up its interventions. Coverage rate will also have to be increased drastically as at present, pockets of population are not reached."

According to the report, brought out by the International Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), an umbrella organisation comprising about 240 members such as Unicef, WHO and Save the Children, India's average annual rate of reduction of child deaths between 1990-2006 has been just 2.6%.

If India wants to achieve the agreed targets by 2015, the required rate to reduce child and maternal mortality will have to be 7.6% from 2007-2015.

The report also identifies a series of missed opportunities. It says only one-third of women in the 68 priority countries are using a modern contraceptive method - a proven means of boosting maternal and infant survival.

Only 50% women and newborns benefit from a skilled birth attendant at the time of birth globally. Only about one-third of children with pneumonia, the biggest single killer of children, get treatment while under nutrition has been the underlying cause of 3.5 million child deaths annually, and as many as 20% of maternal deaths.

source - Times of India