Infant mortality: India
(→2013-14- Highest Infant Mortality Rate in Delhi) |
|||
| Line 69: | Line 69: | ||
| − | =2013-14 | + | =2013-14: IMR highest ever: Delhi= |
''' More infants died within month of birth last year ''' | ''' More infants died within month of birth last year ''' | ||
| Line 127: | Line 127: | ||
Through an extraordinary training project for local tribal women. Prasanta Tripathy runs the NGO Ekjut, which facilitated the training. He says “there is a 45% reduction in neonatal mortality rate as well as a change in practices related to childrearing. Besides, there is a 57% reduction in postnatal depression.” | Through an extraordinary training project for local tribal women. Prasanta Tripathy runs the NGO Ekjut, which facilitated the training. He says “there is a 45% reduction in neonatal mortality rate as well as a change in practices related to childrearing. Besides, there is a 57% reduction in postnatal depression.” | ||
| − | It’s been a hard slog — for the NGO and its volunteers, and the tribal women. Aantri Koda, 28, of Balundi village, was one of the early trainees. She recounts how hard it was: “When I joined the NGO for training, my husband asked me to concentrate on household chores rather than become a neta. However, my sister | + | It’s been a hard slog — for the NGO and its volunteers, and the tribal women. Aantri Koda, 28, of Balundi village, was one of the early trainees. She recounts how hard it was: “When I joined the NGO for training, my husband asked me to concentrate on household chores rather than become a neta. However, my sister in law persuaded him to let me join, citing her own suffering during pregnancy.” |
There was resistance from village elders too. Mother-of-two Kulsum Sundi, 33, recalls the gram pradhan opposing volunteers who wanted to assist her when she was pregnant. “He said that they are polluting the culture of our village by carrying semi-naked pictures of pregnant women.” | There was resistance from village elders too. Mother-of-two Kulsum Sundi, 33, recalls the gram pradhan opposing volunteers who wanted to assist her when she was pregnant. “He said that they are polluting the culture of our village by carrying semi-naked pictures of pregnant women.” | ||
Revision as of 21:18, 19 December 2014
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly |
Contents |
Mortality, infant: India
Push for hospital births sees drop in infant mortality
Kounteya Sinha
New Delhi: Paying women to deliver their child in a hospital is now helping India reduce its shamefully high infant mortality rate. In the first comprehensive study of the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) — India’s ambitious maternal health programme, results of which were published in the British medical journal ‘Lancet’ on Thursday — researchers from the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington found that women who took part in this cash incentive scheme had 4 fewer stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life per 1,000 pregnancies and 2 fewer neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births.
The study said implementation of JSY in 2007-08 was highly variable by state — from less than 5% to 44% of women giving birth. “The poorest and least educated women did not always have the highest odds of receiving JSY payments. JSY had a significant effect on increasing antenatal care and in-facility births. In the matching analysis, JSY payment was associated with a reduction of 3.7 perinatal deaths per 1,000 pregnancies and 2.3 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births,” the study said. “In the with-versus without comparison, the reductions were 4.1 perinatal deaths per 1,000 pregnancies and 2.4 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births,” it added.
According to health ministry, JSY’s coverage has increased since it was launched in 2005. Beneficiaries under this scheme tripled in the last five years. While 29.3 lakh women availed of JSY in 2006-2007, the number increased to 71.1 lakh in 2007-08, 85.42 lakh in 2008-09 and 92.29 lakh in 2009-10 of the 26 million women giving birth this year in India. Prof Lalit Dandona from PHFI, who conducted the study, said, “Our analysis shows that JSY greatly improved antenatal care and the number of women who delivered in hospital. The programme is reducing perinatal and neonatal mortality.”
Mortality, Under-5
Fewer children dying in India
Nearly 5% Annual Decline In Under-5 Mortality, Finds Study
Kounteya Sinha
New Delhi: Nearly 20 fewer children per 1,000 live births are dying in India now, before reaching 28 days of life, than they did two decades ago. As far as post-neonatal deaths are concerned, India is now losing 15 fewer lives per 1,000 live births than it did in 1990. Among children aged 1-4 years, nearly 30 fewer children are dying now than 20 years back.
According to a new study published in medical journal ‘Lancet’ on Monday, child deaths worldwide are falling faster than earlier thought. Scientists predicted that about 7.7 million children under 5 would die in 2010, down from nearly 12 million in 1990. The deaths this year would include 3.1 million neonatals, 2.3 million post-neonatals and 2.3 million deaths of children aged between 1 and 4.
According to new research by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, under-5 mortality has reduced by 35% since 1990. The global decline during the past 20 years is 2.1% per year for overall under-5 mortality and for neonatal mortality, 2.3% for post-neonatal mortality and 2.2% for mortality in children aged between 1 and 4.
India is recording a nearly 4-5% annual decline in under-5 mortality. “We’re quite a bit further ahead than we thought,” said Christopher Murray, one of the paper’s authors and director of IHME.
Murray and colleagues assessed information from 187 countries from 1970 to 2009. They found that child deaths dropped by about 2% every year, lower than the 4.4% needed to reach the UN’s target of reducing child deaths by two-thirds by 2015.
The study said 31 developing countries were on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal by reducing child deaths by 66% between 1990 and 2015.In 1990, 12 countries had an under-5 mortality rate of more than 200 deaths per 1,000 live births. Today, no country has an under-5 mortality rate that high, according to IHME estimates.
Compared to India, Pakistan too hasn’t done a bad job. Against a neonatal rate of 54.8 per 1,000 births in 1990, it now stands at 42.7.
Infant mortality in Delhi and the other metros
Goal missed, city infant mortality capital
Even Large States Like TN And Maharashtra Score Higher
INSIGHT GROUP The Times of India 2013/09/01
New Delhi: The bad news is that Delhi has the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) among all the metros and at the current sluggish pace at which the figure is being reduced the capital would achieve its goal of reaching an IMR of 15 only in 2030. The good news is that the utilization of public health facilities is over 60%, much higher than in most states.
From an IMR—a measure of how many die within the first year for every 1,000 live births—of 33 in 2004-09, Delhi has progressed at a crawl to touch the current IMR of 28. The Delhi Human Development Report (DHDR) 2013 pointed out that much larger states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had achieved IMRs of 25 and 22 respectively despite having substantial rural populations, higher levels of poverty and a less intensive network of public health infrastructure. In the Delhi Development Goals set in 2006, the target was to achieve an IMR of 15 by 2015.
Segregating infant deaths shows that most happen in the early neonatal period (up to seven days after birth). The decline in postneonatal (28 days to one year) deaths, has been cut by 62%, compared to declines in neonatal (less than one year) and early neonatal deaths of 35% and 26% respectively. The major reasons for this scenario have been identified as inadequate neonatal care in health facilities and the significant proportion of deliveries still happening at home-—about 20%—which kept women out of the coverage of essential maternal health services. The report argued for urgent efforts to ensure improved coverage of maternal and child health services in Delhi.
Yet, the Perception Survey carried out for the DHDR revealed that across different socio-economic groups a large chunk used the public health system, the proportion varying from over 75% in low income groups to 45% in high income groups.
2013-14: IMR highest ever: Delhi
More infants died within month of birth last year
December 17, 2014
The number of children dying in Delhi within 29 days of their birth has gone up in the past one year -from 876 in 2012-13 to 1,015 in 2013-14.Latest statistics released by Delhi government show maternal mortality , an indicator of public health system, has witnessed a sharp increase during the same period. According to government data, total 2,30,961 deliveries (1,96,109 at public hospitals and 34,852 at private hospitals) were conducted in 2013-14. Data on neonatal deaths only includes 17,458 newborns admitted to the Sick Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) at 14 government hospitals.
Experts say many neonatal deaths are still not reported. “The increase in number of such deaths should be seen in correlation with the total number of births. Also, we still have hundreds of newborn deaths being categorized under the still birth category,“ said T Sunderaraman, a public health expert. He added that poor infrastructure and human resources at SNCUs is also to blame.
“Neonatal ICU is a highly specialized service. It requires state-of-the-art infrastructure, which is completely missing from facilities run by Delhi government and municipal corporations,“ said Sunderaraman.
Experts say premature births contribute the highest to neonatal deaths. Infection is the second leading cause, followed by asphyxia (shortness of breath) and diarrhoea.
Data also shows an increase in the number of children between 1-3 years being detected with protein energy malnutrition and low weight.
There is bad news for the government on family planning front too. Except for Insertion of Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD), the usage of all other contraceptive methods has witnessed a significant decline in the last one year. This includes condoms, oral pills and sterilization of both men and women.
Infant mortality highest in the 8 poorest states
8 states report 71% of total infant deaths
Subodh.Varma@timesgroup.com
The Times of India Aug 19 2014
Have you ever wondered why infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality rate (MMR) are going down so slowly in India?
Part of the answer can be found in a recent survey report put out by the Census office. The eight most-poor states surveyed are home to half the country's population. And, it is in these states that 71% of infant deaths, 72% of deaths of children under-five years, and 62% of maternal deaths take place.
The key reasons for MMR include not getting proper treatment and child-birth related complications. More than three quarters of pregnant women in these states don't undergo full ante-natal checkup (ANC). They are sup posed to get at least one checkup every three months (three in all), one tetanus injection and iron supplement for at least 100 days. In UP, Bihar and Rajasthan over 90% the women don't get full ANC.
A very large proportion of mothers don't get examined within 48 hours of delivery . In Odisha, this proportion is low at 17% but in Bihar it has touched 40% mark. On both these counts, there has been some improvement in all states since 2011 when a baseline survey was done. But, at this rate it will take years to bring it to acceptable levels.
The reason for children's vulnerability to diseases and death is revealed by two key statistics. From one third to nearly half the infants aged 12 to 23 months don't get fully immunized. In UP 47% infants re main unvaccinated, in Assam 36%. This is despite a huge immunization programme conducted by the government.Full immunization includes TB, DPT, polio and measles.
Iron supplementation is a necessity because nearly half the new borns in our country suffer from anemia, as do their mothers. Again, three quarters or more children reported not receiving IFA tablets in the last six months, except Bihar where 66% did not get them.The numbers are staggering: in four states over 80% children were not getting the life giving supplement.
The states covered in the survey are: UP , Bihar, Rajasthan, MP , Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Assam.
Mortality, neonatal: reduction of in Jharkhand
How Jharkhand’s mothers stopped their babies dying
…and why the authoritative medical journal, Lancet, has praised a unique project
B Sridhar
Chakradharpur (West Singbhum): Kusnopur is a hamlet in the area and it is a transformed place. As are some other villages in this mineral-rich district. Indkata, Dengsorgi and Landupoda are also in the grip of a quiet — and happy — revolution. Fewer newborn babies are dying. How has this happened?
Through an extraordinary training project for local tribal women. Prasanta Tripathy runs the NGO Ekjut, which facilitated the training. He says “there is a 45% reduction in neonatal mortality rate as well as a change in practices related to childrearing. Besides, there is a 57% reduction in postnatal depression.”
It’s been a hard slog — for the NGO and its volunteers, and the tribal women. Aantri Koda, 28, of Balundi village, was one of the early trainees. She recounts how hard it was: “When I joined the NGO for training, my husband asked me to concentrate on household chores rather than become a neta. However, my sister in law persuaded him to let me join, citing her own suffering during pregnancy.”
There was resistance from village elders too. Mother-of-two Kulsum Sundi, 33, recalls the gram pradhan opposing volunteers who wanted to assist her when she was pregnant. “He said that they are polluting the culture of our village by carrying semi-naked pictures of pregnant women.”
Nitima Lamay of Ekjut says lack of awareness caused the initial resistance. “Gradually, the senior members of the village started co-operating.” Tripathy says they stress on “participation, learning and action — the ingredients in the making of an empowered mother and healthy baby.”
The NGO started with 20 women in three villages around Chakradharpur six years ago. By now, it has 20,000 trained women, spread across more than a thousand villages in nine districts of Jharkhand and Orissa.
Sumitra Gagrai, Ekjut group coordinator, says the core of the revolution was the community spirit unleashed, when trained female volunteers fanned out across remote villages “to encourage adolescent girls and married women to find practical solutions for good health during the pre and post pregnancy period.”
It was a success and praised as such by ‘The Lancet’, the authoritative British medical journal.
