THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)
(a): As per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) Bulletin of Registrar General of India, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) at National level is 30 per 1,000 Live Births in 2019.
The State/UT-wise and year-wise detail since 2010 is placed at Annexure 1.
(b) to (d): Sample Registration System of Registrar General of India is responsible for generating data on regular basis on population statistics including Vital Statistics (Birth and Death) and Census.
The major causes of Infant Mortality in India as per the SRS reports (2010-13) include Prematurity & low birth weight, Pneumonia, Birth asphyxia & birth trauma, Other non-communicable diseases, Diarrhoeal diseases, Ill-defined or cause unknown, Congenital anomalies, Acute bacterial sepsis and severe infections, Injuries, Fever of unknown origin.
To ascertain the number and causes of child death, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has initiated Child Death Review programme in August, 2014 and recently, Maternal, Perinatal, Child Death Surveillance and Response (MPCDSR) portal has been launched for online reporting and reviewing of child deaths.
The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the country has shown significant and consistent decline since the inception of National Health Mission due to implementation of various schemes in the States/ UTs.
(e): In order to address the problem of malnutrition in the country, Government implements several schemes and programs like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions. Government has also set up POSHAN Abhiyaan, which has one of the aim to prevent and reduce prevalence of anaemia among Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers.
Government has also taken further measures to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have also been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under the Poshan Tracker, a robust ICT enabled platform, to improve governance with regard to real time monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervisions and management of services.
Government has advised States/UTs to ensure that the quality of supplementary nutrition conforms to prescribed standards laid down under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and regulations made thereunder and also to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme to support development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi centres to meet dietary diversity gap leveraging traditional knowledge in nutritional practices has also been taken up.
Mission Poshan 2.0, an integrated nutrition support programme, has been announced in Budget 2021-22.
Details of funds released to States/UTs under POSHAN Abhiyaan and ICDS Scheme from FY 2017-18 to FY 2020-21.
Total Central Funds released to States/UTs from FY 2017-18 to FY 2020-21 (Amount in Lakhs)
POSHAN Abhiyaan ICDS scheme
5,31,279.08 34,00,721.54
Till date, a total of 9.22 crore beneficiaries are registered under the ICDS scheme as per ICDS Rapid Reporting System (RRS) data.
(f): In order to bring down Infant Mortality Rate, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is supporting all States/UTs in implementation of Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child, Adolescent health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy under National Health Mission (NHM) based on the Annual Program Implementation Plan (APIP) submitted by States/ UTs. The interventions include:
• Facility Based New Born Care-Sick New-born Care Units (SNCUs) are established at District Hospital and Medical College level and New-born Stabilization Units (NBSUs) established at First Referral Units (FRUs)/ Community Health Centres (CHC) for care of sick and small babies.
• Under Home Based New-born Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care of Young Children (HBYC) program, home visits by ASHAs are conducted to improve child rearing practices and to identify sick new-born and young children in the community.
• 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).
• Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) initiative has been launched for reduction of Childhood morbidity and mortality due to Pneumonia.
• Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is implemented 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 for prevention of Rota-viral diarrhoea. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) has been introduced in all the States and UTs.
• Children from 0 to 18 years of age are screened for 30 health conditions (i.e. Diseases, Deficiencies, Defects and Developmental delay) under “Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram (RBSK)” to improve child survival. District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) at district health facility level are established for confirmation and management of children screened under RBSK.
• 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.
• Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight / Defeat Diarrhoea (D2) initiative has been launched for promoting ORS and Zinc use and for reducing diarrheal deaths.
• Several capacity building programs of health care providers are conducted for improving maternal and child survival and health outcomes.
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