New Delhi, Oct 19: India has witnessed 66 per cent decline in the under-five mortality rate from 1990 to 2015 but most of the new-born deaths — 24 per cent of all — still occur in the country, according to a new UN report.
With the reduction, India has met one of its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets of curbing by two-thirds the under-five death rate, according to the survery — Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017 — conducted by the UNICEF and released globally on Thursday.
The UN report said there was a need for equitable access to health care for every girl child in India which “warrants an intensification of our combined efforts to bridge this gap and ensure an equitable access to health care for the girl child”. “Even in the states that have met the MDG targets, there are persistent gender inequities. The right of a female child to care is often compromised due to cultural barriers and prevalent social norms.”
The report highlighted that a major barrier in seeking healthcare for the girl child was the high out-of-pocket expenses.
Cultural barriers in seeking healthcare for the girl child also needed to be addressed, the report recommended.
“The issue of neglect of the girl child is much broader and needs interventions beyond health, to also address the social norms and cultural practices. This would require working at the policy level and with key influencers in civil society, to create an ebling environment around the need to enhance the value of girls.
The report stressed that investment in the education of the girl child was crucial and acknowledged that Prime Minster rendra Modi’s “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” scheme could be used for addressing the prevailing negative social norms towards the girl child in India.
The report also found that the materl mortality ratio (MMR) has declined by 68 per cent during the MDG period while the global decline was more modest at 44 per cent. (IANS)