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Under-5 child deaths declines faster in India, four-fold decline in gender gap in survival of girl child: UN

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6 years ago

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Children

India has shown an impressive decline in deaths, with about 8,02,000 infant deaths reported in India in 2017, which is now for the first time below the one million mark and the lowest in five years,  the UN said in a new report.

The rate has declined from nearly 22 per cent in 2012 to 18 per cent in 2017, said the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME).

“The under-five mortality rate of India at 39 per 1000 now equals that of the world, highlighting the much faster decline by India in the last five years as compared to the global decline. (Under-five mortality of India: 39 per 1,000 and global also is 39 per 1,000),” it said.

According to the report, the gender gap in child survival has reduced almost four-fold in the last five years, with under-five mortality of girl child now being 2.5 per cent higher, compared to nearly 10 per cent in 2012.

The UNIGME report said 6,05,000 neonatal deaths were reported in India in 2017, while the number of deaths among children aged 5–14 was 1,52,000.

“India continues to show impressive decline in child deaths, with its share of global under-five deaths for the first time equalling its share of childbirths,” Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative, UNICEF India said.

“The efforts for improving institutional delivery, along with countrywide scale up of special newborn care units and strengthening of routine immunization, have been instrumental towards this,” she said.

The number of infant deaths has come down from 8.67 lakh in 2016 to 8.02 lakh in 2017. In 2016, India’s infant mortality rate was 44 per 1,000 live births.

In 2017, sex-specific under-five mortality rate was 39 in 1,000 for male and 40 in 1,000 for females. “Even more heartening is the fourfold decline in the gender gap in survival of the girl child over last five years,” Haque said.

The investment on ensuring holistic nutrition under the POSHAN campaign and national commitment to make India open defecation-free by 2019 are steps that will help in accelerating progress further, she added.

However, according to the report, an estimated 6.3 million children aged below 15 died in 2017, or 1 every 5 seconds, mostly of preventable causes, according to new mortality estimates released by UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group.

A vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths. “Without urgent action, 56 million children under five will die from now until 2030 – half of them newborns,” said Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Director of Data, Research and Policy.

“We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born. With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child,” she said.

Globally, in 2017, half of all deaths under five years of age took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30 per cent in Southern Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 children died before their fifth birthday. In high-income countries, that number was 1 in 185.

“Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services,” said Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO.

“We must prioritize providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive,” Simelela said.

Most children under five die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhea, neonatal sepsis and malaria, the report said.

By comparison, among children between 5 and 14 years of age, injuries become a more prominent cause of death, especially from drowning and road traffic. Within this age group, regional differences also exist, with the risk of dying for a child from sub-Saharan Africa 15 times higher than in Europe, it said.

“More than six million children dying before their fifteenth birthday is a cost we simply can’t afford,” said Timothy Evans, Senior Director and Head of the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank Group.

“Ending preventable deaths and investing in the health of young people is a basic foundation for building countries’ human capital, which will drive their future growth and prosperity,” the report read.

For children everywhere, the most risky period of life is the first month. In 2017, 2.5 million newborns died in their first month. A baby born in sub-Saharan Africa or in Southern Asia was nine times more likely to die in the first month than a baby born in a high-income country. And progress towards saving newborns has been slower than for other children under five years of age since 1990.

Even within countries, disparities persist. Under-five mortality rates among children in rural areas are, on average, 50 per cent higher than among children in urban areas. In addition, those born to uneducated mothers are more than twice as likely to die before turning five than those born to mothers with a secondary or higher education.

Despite these challenges, fewer children are dying each year worldwide.

The number of children dying under five has fallen dramatically from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017. The number of deaths in older children aged between 5 to 14 years dropped from 1.7 million to under a million in the same period.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Farooq Abdullah accuses PM Modi of trying to divide the country over religion

Faroukh Abdullah reacted to PM Modi’s remark that the Congress will redistribute people’s money and property to Muslims if voted to power and said Muslims respect all religions. He said that they are Muslims and Allah has told them to respect other religions. He further added that a Muslim cannot snatch anyone’s right.

Published

8 hours ago

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May 1, 2024

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Farooq Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir’s National Conference President said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to divide the country over religion. He also said that those who will vote for them must prepare for hell. Farooq Abdullah said Muslims cannot snatch away the rights of others.

Farooq Abdullah also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government a threat to the survival of the country. Omar Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister cautioned the people not to divide this country on the basis of religion, otherwise a storm will unleash making the survival of the nation difficult. He said it is better to talk about uniting the country, instead of dividing its people.

He was addressing an election rally in Thanamandi area of the Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir. The Anantnag parliamentary constituency will go for elections on May 25. Faroukh Abdullah reacted to PM Modi’s remark that the Congress will redistribute people’s money and property to Muslims if voted to power and said Muslims respect all religions. He said that they are Muslims and Allah has told them to respect other religions. He further added that a Muslim cannot snatch anyone’s right.

He remembered an incident when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi once stopped his car in Pulwama and assured a poor Hindu woman that he would give her a mangalsutra as she could not afford it. Farooq Abdullah said those who were against the INDIA bloc are against the nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier sparked a controversy last month as he commented that the Congress would take away the hard-earned money of the masses and distribute them among infiltrators and those with many children.  Speaking at a rally today, the Prime Minister took a jibe at the Congress and said the governments in the past were not able to implement the Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir. He was referring to the revocation of Article 370.

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India News

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah writes to PM Modi, urges home ministry to cancel diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna

CM Siddaramaiah wrote in the letter to PM Modi that he must be aware of the serious case of alleged sexual exploitation of a number of women by the sitting Hassan Lok Sabha member of Parliament (MP) and the NDA candidate, Prajwal Revanna, for the same constituency for the  ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Published

9 hours ago

on

May 1, 2024

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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he urged the Home Affairs Ministry to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna. Earlier a day before Revanna was suspended by JD(S) amid a row over explicit videos. Revanna is believed to have escaped to Germany shortly after the first phase of elections ended in Karnataka on April 26, in which he was JD(S)-BJP’s candidate from Hassan.

CM Siddaramaiah wrote in the letter to PM Modi that he must be aware of the serious case of alleged sexual exploitation of a number of women by the sitting Hassan Lok Sabha member of Parliament (MP) and the NDA candidate, Prajwal Revanna, for the same constituency for the  ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Karnataka Chief Minister wrote in letter that the Congress government in Karnataka has constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the allegations against Revanna. The SIT is working day and night to investigate the allegations of crimes against several women by Prajwal Revanna and getting him back to the country is of utmost importance so that he faces investigation and trial as per the existing law of the land.

Siddaramaiah urged PM Modi to move the Home Ministry to take swift action to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna and appropriate action must be taken using diplomatic and police channels of the Government of India as well as international police agencies to ensure the swift return of the absconding member of parliament to face the existing law of the land.

Suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, broke his silence on Wednesday and said that truth will prevail soon. In his first response since the controversy erupted, Prajwal Revanna said on X that he is not in Bengaluru currently and has communicated the same to CID.

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Amit Shah says BJP will neither remove reservation for SCs, STs and OBC, nor will allow Congress to do so

The Home Minister alleged that the Congress’ formula was to speak lies loudly, publicly and repetitively. He advised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge not to speak lies for a family as eventually he will have to take the blame for the party’s loss in the Lok Sabha elections

Published

11 hours ago

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May 1, 2024

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday continued to attack Congress over reservation row. He was addressing a rally in Katghora town of Chhattisgarh’s Korba district to campaign for Saroj Pandey, BJP candidate from the Korba Lok Sabha seat where Shah said BJP will neither remove reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs, nor will it allow Congress to do so.

The Home Minister alleged that the Congress’ formula was to speak lies loudly, publicly and repetitively. He advised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge not to speak lies for a family as eventually he will have to take the blame for the party’s loss in the Lok Sabha elections. Shah accused Congress of nurturing terrorism and Naxalism to win the Lok Sabha elections.

Shah further added that Congress claims if Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji gets majority for the third term, he will scrap reservation. He said the grand old party has even circulated his fake video. Shah said that have been in power for the last 10 years and PM Modi did not remove reservation, nor will he do it in the future.

The Union Home Minister further asserted Modi ji used the majority to scrap Article 370 and triple talaq, construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and introduce the Citizenship Amendment Act. He further told the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi do not belong to anyone. He said on June 4 Congress will suffer defeat and the brother-sister duo will remain safe, but Kharge ji will be blamed.

Shah further asserted if PM Modi becomes the prime minister for the 3rd straight term, then Naxalism will be uprooted in two years in Chhattisgarh.  Shah targeted the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led government in Chhattisgarh and said, The Bhupesh Kakka government encouraged Naxalism, but after the BJP came to power in the state under CM Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma 95 Naxalites have been eliminated in 4 months.

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