Centre launches Paalan 1000 National Campaign to reduce child mortality

Context – India has reduced the child mortality rate from 45 deaths in 2014 to 35 deaths in 2019 per 1,000 live births, union minister Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said recently while launching the Early Childhood Development Conclave, Paalan 1000 National Campaign and Parenting App.

Key Highlights

• The child health programme under the National Health Mission (NHM) comprehensively integrated interventions which improved child survival and addressed factors contributing to infant and under-five mortality,

• India’s infant mortality rate (IMR) is reportedly performing only better than countries like Pakistan and Myanmar, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Whereas, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan succeeded in reaching lower IMR than India.
• The Centre’s Sample Registration System (SRS) discovered that IMR in rural India is much higher than in urban places in the country. It pointed out the major reasons for IMR are prematurity and low birth weight, pneumonia, birth asphyxia and birth trauma, diarrheal disease, congenital anomalies, injuries and acute bacterial sepsis among others.
• Over 57% of adolescent girls and women in the age group of 15 to 49 are vulnerable to anaemia which contributes to the high percentage of IMR, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) survey.
• The latest report on a multi-dimensional survey by NITI Ayog shows that poor nutrition across different states leads to deterioration of maternal health and high IMR.
• IMR or child mortality rate is defined as the number of infant deaths per thousand live births in a given time period. This is used to measure the country’s overall health situation.
• Paalan app is aimed at the cognitive development of children in the first two years. It combines early years coaching for parents, families and other caregivers.

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