From The Times of India
NEW DELHI: In India, over 2.1 million children die annually before reaching their fifth birthday, 50% of them not surviving even 28 days.
Globally, the number stands at 9.7 million annually.
The statistics are equally shocking among neonates - children newborn to a maximum age of 28 days old. While around 4 million children die within the first 28 days of life across the planet every year, India records around one million of these cases.
Of the 19 million infants in the developing world who have low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams), 8.3 million are in India. This means that approximately 43% of all the world's infants who are born with a low birth weight are born in India.
Malnutrition continues to affect newborns and young children and has been found to be the underlying cause of up to 50% of under-five deaths.
About 55 million, or one-third of the world's underweight children under age five, live in India with the worst affected states being Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Globally, the number stands at 9.7 million annually.
The statistics are equally shocking among neonates - children newborn to a maximum age of 28 days old. While around 4 million children die within the first 28 days of life across the planet every year, India records around one million of these cases.
Of the 19 million infants in the developing world who have low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams), 8.3 million are in India. This means that approximately 43% of all the world's infants who are born with a low birth weight are born in India.
Malnutrition continues to affect newborns and young children and has been found to be the underlying cause of up to 50% of under-five deaths.
About 55 million, or one-third of the world's underweight children under age five, live in India with the worst affected states being Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya.
These are the findings of UNICEF's latest 'The State of the World's Children-2008' report released on Tuesday.
The report places India at number one spot in children's deaths across the globe - one child dying every three seconds.
According to Gianni Murzi, UNICEF's India representative, India is witnessing a paradoxical moment.
"While the country is experiencing record growth rates and unprecedented wealth, it is faced with an incomparable child survival challenge. India carries the single highest share of neonatal deaths in the world," he said.
Murzi said India accounts for over 20% of under-five children's deaths. "What is more shocking is that 25% of children dying worldwide before the 20th day after their birth are from India. India's future lies with these children. Focusing on the survival and development of its children is the best investment that any country can make."
Experts said that in 2006, for the first time in history, the number of annual child deaths worldwide declined to below the 10 million mark.
According to the report, simple and affordable life-saving measures, such as immediate and exclusive breastfeeding, immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets, integrated management of neonatal and child illnesses and vitamin A supplementation, can greatly reduce child deaths.
The report says the under five mortality rate (U5MR) for India was estimated as 76 for 2006. India has shown progress with the average annual rate of reduction in U5 mortality between 1990 and 2006 being around 2.6%.
Experts say: "If India is to reach the Millenium Development Goals by 2015, the average annual rate of reduction over the next nine years will have to be around 7.6%." According to the report, universalisation of early initiation of breastfeeding, within one hour of birth, would reduce neonatal mortality in India by 22%, universalisation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life would avert nearly 16% of young child deaths in India.
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