The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has recently unveiled their ‘Levels and Trends in Child Mortality’ report. Damning results show that, contrary to global inclinations, the mortality rate of girls under the age of five years surpasses that of boys in India in 2018. Surprisingly, boys are conventionally expected to grapple with a higher chance of death before reaching the age of five years.
The Global Trend
The comprehensive report underscores that lesser countries displayed gender disparities in child mortality in 2018. Countries chiefly situated in Southern Asia and Western Asia portray a distressingly high risk of death for girls who haven’t yet reached the age of five. The report indicates that 50 percent of all deaths of children under the age of five years in 2018 were confined to five nations: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia. India and Nigeria alone shoulder approximately a third of these fatalities. Albeit significant progress in child survival over the last couple of decades, a chilling statistic reveals that one child or young adolescent still died every five seconds in 2018.
Understanding Child Mortality
Child mortality isn’t a simple numerical outcome; rather, it’s shaped by both the mortality rate and the general population of any given State. The mortality rate signifies the proportion of children who meet an untimely death, while the estimated population is calculated by the total number of births annually. Current trends indicate that nearly 10 million children aged between 5 to 14 years and 52 million children under the age of 5 years will meet untimely deaths between 2019 and 2030. Alarmingly, nearly half of these under-5 deaths will be newborns.
| Country | Under-5 mortality (Per 1000 live births) |
|---|---|
| India | 39.4 |
| Nigeria | 119.9 |
| Pakistan | 69.3 |
| DR Congo | 84.8 |
| Ethiopia | 55.2 |
The Indian Scenario
The vast majority of child mortality cases in India can be traced back to deaths during the neonatal period. Preterm birth, intrapartum related events, and neonatal infection serve as the primary catalysts for neonatal mortality. In the post-neonatal period, diarrhoea and pneumonia emerge as the lethal causes of death. India’s neonatal mortality rate stands at 23 per 1,000 live births.
According to India’s 2017 Sample Registration System (SRS), States grappling with the highest burden of neonatal mortality include Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, reporting 32, 33, and 30 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births respectively. Meanwhile, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttarakhand exhibit the most prominent gender gaps for under-5 mortality. Uttar Pradesh emerges as the State with the largest number of estimated newborn deaths in India due to a remarkably high neonatal mortality rate and an extensive number of annual births.
Solutions to Reduce Child Mortality
There is an urgent need for more significant progress in preventing child fatalities. This can be achieved via higher coverage of quality antenatal care, skillful care during birth, postnatal care for both mother and baby, and care for small and sick newborns. Taking these steps will be instrumental in saving countless lives and ensuring a brighter future for our children.