“Despite the government’s efforts to improve maternal and child health, the latest report released by UNICEF shows India had the highest number of deaths of children under five years of age in 2011.
…..The UNICEF report, released on Thursday in New York, says almost 19,000 children less than five years of age die every day across the world. India tops the list of countries for 2011, with the highest number of such deaths at 16.55 lakh…..
… In 2011, about half of global under-five deaths occurred in just five countries: India, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and China. Though on the top of list in terms of absolute numbers, in terms of child mortality rate, India ranks 49th with 61 deaths per thousand children in 2011, Sierra Leone has the highest child mortality rate of 185 per thousand……According to the UNICEF report, China reported 2.49 lakh deaths of under-5 children last year, followed by 1.94 lakh in Ethiopia and 1.34 lakh each in Indonesia and Bangladesh….”Read more on TOI.
Akshaya Patra mid day meal even though reaches out at large to children between 6-14 years of age, a program such as feeding in anganwadis are also undertaken to cover children of age 5 years and below in few of the regions Akshaya Patra is located in. Centres include Anganwadis in Baran and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Read more .
More such initiatives need to be adopted by Akshaya Patra, other NGOs and government departments, to minimize the death rate and to reach MDG as soon as possible if not by 2015. Other health issues also need to be addressed for pregnant and nursing mothers as well as infants and children below 5 years of age.
