Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware of a report prepared by the UN World Food Programme revealing that 31.4 per cent of Indian children will be stunted by 2032;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the measures being taken by the Government to improve the health of our children?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a) & (b): No.
(c): Government of India is implementing various interventions to improve health of our children, under National Health Mission (NHM) a flagship scheme of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). These interventions are as follows:
• Promotion of Institutional deliveries through cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) which entitles all pregnant women delivering in public health institutions to absolutely free ante-natal check-ups, delivery including Caesarean section, post-natal care and treatment of sick infants till one year of age.
• Strengthening of delivery points for providing comprehensive and quality Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCHA) Services, ensuring essential newborn care at all delivery points, establishment of Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU), Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSU) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) units for care of sick and small babies.
• Promotion of appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices that include early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months of age through ASHA worker and health care provider at health facilities. In order to promote and support breastfeeding, Government has implemented “MAA- Mothers’ Absolute Affection” programme to improve breastfeeding coverage and appropriate breastfeeding practices in the country.
• Micro-supplementation programmes for tackling micronutrient deficiency among vulnerable age groups such as pregnant women, under-five children and adolescents.
? Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) for children till the age of 5 years.
? ‘Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB)’ for supplementation and treatment of anaemia in children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, and women of reproductive age group in programme mode through life cycle approach. This involves, bi-weekly IFA syrup supplementation to children 6 – 59 months, weekly IFA tablet supplementation to children 5 – 10 years and adolescents 10 – 19 years, and IFA tablets to pregnant and lactating women.
? Promotion for intake of iodised salt and monitoring salt quality through testing under National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme.
• National De-worming Day as a fixed day strategy to administer Albendazole tablets to all the children in the age group of 1-19 years through the platform of AWCs and Schools which results in good nutritional outcomes and prevents anemia.
• Mission Indradhanush has been implemented with the objective to ensure high coverage of children with all vaccines in the entire country with a high focus on the reaching the unreached districts and seeks to achieve 90% full immunization coverage of India by year 2020.
• Prevention of childhood illness such as diarrheal diseases in turn prevents childhood malnutrition. Control of childhood diarrhoea is being carried out by conducting annual Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnights (IDCFs).
• Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) provides child health screening for 30 common health conditions including nutritional status screening and provides free referral and treatment facilities for screened children.
• Village Health and Nutrition Days and Mother and Child Protection Card are the joint initiative of the Ministry of Health & Family welfare and the Ministry of Woman and Child Development for addressing the nutrition concerns in children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHNSDs) are monthly days held at village level in Anganwadi centre to increase the awareness and bring about desired changes in the dietary practices including the promotion of breastfeeding through group counseling sessions.
• Treatment of sick children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) at special units called the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs), set up at public health facilities.
• Management of malnutrition and common neonatal and childhood illnesses at community and facility level by training service providers in IMNCI (Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses) training.
• Home Based New Born Care (HBNC) & Home Based Care for Young Child (HBYC) Programmes: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been implementing the Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) programme since 2011 in which ASHAs provide scheduled home visits to newborns starting from 1st day till 42nd days of life. Home Based Care for Young Children (HBYC) was launched in 2018 as an extension of HBNC to extend the community based care by ASHA workers till 15th month of life.
All these programs address one or other aspects related to health and nutrition and have the potential to improve health of our children.