Question : Pre-Mature Death

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken note of alarming premature deaths in the country; if so, the details thereof, State/ UT-wise;

(b) whether as per the global action report on premature death, India tops the list of 10 nations computing 60% of the world''s pre-mature deliveries, if so, the details thereof along with the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard;

(c) whether the Government has adopted any measures to train young Pediatricians to ensure the survival of preterm born children in the country particularly in the rural areas; and

(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)

(a): As per WHO Publication “Born too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth”, out of an estimated annual 2.7 crore live births in India , 35 lakh babies are born preterm and out of these 3.03 lakh babies die due to complication of preterm births. The state/UT wise data on prematurity is not collected at the national level.

(b): Yes. As per the above report, 10 nations in the world account for 60% of the world’s premature deliveries and India is one of them.

Under the National Health Mission, the following key interventions are being implemented all over the country to bring down the infant mortality:

I. Promoting Institutional delivery through Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY) cash incentive scheme for pregnant mothers and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) which entitles all pregnant women and sick infant to absolutely free and no expense treatment at the public health facilities.

II. Strengthening of delivery points by identifying the “delivery points” for providing comprehensive and quality RMNCH Services at those health facilities


III. Strengthening of newborn care services by establishing facilities for care of Sick Newborn such as Special New Born Care Units (SNCUs), New Born Stabilization Units (NBSUs) and New Born Care Corners (NBCCs) and provision of Home based new born care (HBNC) through ASHAs. Guidelines for Use of Antenatal Corticosteroids in preterm labour and Kangaroo Mother care and Optimal feeding in Low birth weight infants for the management of preterm babies have been disseminated to the states.

(c) & (d): Under National Health Mission (NHM) Facility Based Newborn Care (FBNC) training is being imparted to the specialist, medical officers and nurses working in the Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) established at the district and sub district level to provide comprehensive care to the sick and preterm babies. FBNC training package is of 4 day classroom training followed by 14 day observer ship for hands on training at designated centres.

Navjat Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (NSSK) is the training programme for doctors, nurses and ANMs to build their capacity to provide essential newborn care to all newborns.