State of the World’s Children Report 2019
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Polity & Governance
- Published
13th Feb, 2020
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Context
- As per UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report 2019, titled “Children, food and nutrition: Growing well in a changing world”, the Under 5 Mortality Rate in India is 37 per 1,000 live births against Global average of 39 per 1,000 live births in 2018, which translates to more than 8 lakhs under 5 deaths in India.
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About State of the World’s Children Report
- The State of the World's Children is an annual report published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It is the flagship publication of the organization.
- The first report was published in 1980, having been under National Health Mission (the executive director of UNICEF at the time).
- Peter Adamson was the author of the report for 15 years.
- The publication of the 1982–1983 The State of the World's Children report marked the start of the child survival revolution.
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What does the Sample Registration System says?
- As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) 2010-13 report of Registrar General of India, major causes of child mortality in India are: Prematurity & low birth weight (29.8%), Pneumonia (17.1%), Diarrheal diseases (8.6%), Other non-communicable diseases (8.3%), Birth asphyxia & birth trauma (8.2%), Injuries (4.6%), Congenital anomalies (4.4%), Ill-defined or cause unknown (4.4%), Acute bacterial sepsis and severe infections (3.6%), Fever of unknown origin (2.5%), All Other Remaining Causes (8.4%).
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What does the State of the World’s Children Report 2019 entails?
- For the first time in 20 years, UNICEF’s flagship report examines the issue of children, food and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge.
- Despite progress in the past two decades, one third of children under age 5 are malnourished – stunted, wasted or overweight – while two thirds are at risk of malnutrition and hidden hunger because of the poor quality of their diets.
- At the centre of this challenge is a broken food system that fails to provide children with the diets they need to grow healthy.
- This report also provides new data and analyses of malnutrition in the 21st century and outlines recommendations to put children’s rights at the heart of food systems.
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What has the government of India done in this regard?
- Government of India has launched POSHAN (Prime Minister Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan. The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan is to prevent and reduce stunting, underweight and low birth weight by 2% per annum and the reduction of anemia by 3% per annum.
- The Government of India has also launched several schemes under the aegis of Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) to tackle malnutrition in the country including Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna (PMMVY) to improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years. The Anganwadi Services scheme provides a package of six servicese. Supplementary Nutrition, Pre School Non-formal Education, Nutrition and Health Education, Immunization, Health checkups and referral services.
- Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy, implemented under National Health Mission, has following interventions:
- Strengthening essential newborn care at all delivery points, establishment of Sick Newborn Care Units (SNCU), Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSU) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) units for care of sick and small babies.
- Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care of Young Children (HBYC) by ASHAs to improve child rearing practices and to identify sick new-born and young children.
- Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding for first six months and appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices are promoted under Mothers’ Absolute Affection (MAA) in convergence with Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is being supported to provide vaccination to children against life threatening diseases such as Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Polio, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Measles, Rubella, Pneumonia and Meningitis caused by Haemophilus Influenzae B. The Rotavirus vaccination has also been rolled out in the country.
- Mission Indradhanush is targeted to immunize children who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 2.0 is rolled-out as per road-map for achieving 90% full immunization coverage across the country.
- Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) have been set up at public health facilities to treat and manage the children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) admitted with medical complications.
- Defeat Diarrhoea (D2) initiative has been launched for promoting ORS and Zinc use and eliminating the diarrhoeal deaths by 2025.
- Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) initiative for reduction of Childhood morbidity and mortality due to Pneumonia.
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy as a part of Poshan Abhiyan aims to strengthen the existing mechanisms and foster newer strategies to tackle anaemia. National Deworming Day (NDD) is implemented biannually every year for deworming of children (one to nineteen year of age).
- All the children from 0 to 18 years of age are screened for 30 health conditions classified into 4Ds – Diseases, Deficiencies, Defects and Developmental delay under “Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram” (RBSK) to improve the quality of survival and to reduce out of pocket expenditure of families. District early intervention centre (DEIC) at district health facility level are established for confirmation and management of the 4D’s.
- Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) are observed for provision of maternal and child health services and awareness on maternal and child Health and nutrition education through mass and social media to improve healthy practices and to generate demand for service uptake.
- Name based tracking of mothers and children till two years of age is done through RCH portal to ensure complete antenatal, intranatal, postnatal care and immunization as per schedule.
- Promotion of Institutional deliveries through cash incentive under Janani SurakshaYojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) which entitles all pregnant women delivering in public health institutions to absolutely free delivery including Caesarean section, post-natal care and treatment of sick infants up to one year of age. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is another maternity benefit programme under which cash incentive is provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Quick Recap
- State of the World’s Children—by UNICEF—first published in 1980
- UNICEF—HQ in New York City, USA—Head: Executive Director of the United Nations—Parent organization: United Nations General Assembly—Formation: 11 December 1946—Head: Henrietta H. Fore
- Rotavirus vaccination—also rolled out under Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).
- Defeat Diarrhoea (D2) initiative—promote ORS and Zinc use.
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy—part of Poshan Abhiyan
