State tops south India in infant mortality rate

State tops south India in infant mortality rate
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Highlights

Infant Mortality, the choicest indicator to denote health of the population and the number of child deaths, is highest in state, according to Dr Alice C B Setti, a practicing community paediatrician from United Kingdom. She addressed a meeting at GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, here on Monday.

Visakhapatnam: Infant Mortality, the choicest indicator to denote health of the population and the number of child deaths, is highest in state, according to Dr Alice C B Setti, a practicing community paediatrician from United Kingdom. She addressed a meeting at GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, here on Monday.

Highlights:

  • UK expert suggests the government to devise new ways and means to tackle the issue
  • Calls for the need for neo-natal care

While delivering a special lecture, she observed that lack of political will and neglect of neo-natal health (low birth weight, pre-maturity, infections and asphyxia) are the main reasons for the neo-natal deaths.“In UK the infant mortality is 2 compared to 40 per 1000 live births in Andhra Pradesh.

With attention towards infant care including colustrum feeding and early treatment of infections can reduce the infant mortality in the state,” she added.Alice has outlined the strategy to achieve the goal of reducing infant mortality to single digit.

Quoting examples from Kerala and Maharashtra, she said that looking into the methods adopted by the neighbouring states in reducing infant mortality, the government of Andhra Pradesh should learn and devise new ways and means to reduce infant mortality.She said in her presentation that though India’s success in information technology is well known to the world, it is not translated into health benefits.

“Reduction in lowering the percentage of children born with low birth weight should be the priority. Nowadays, every child born alive is precious and should have a right to survive and become an adult,” she averred. She encouraged the doctors to take-up infant mortality reduction as their prime research area.

Later, she interacted with the faculty from paediatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology and community medicine and offered to help them in infant mortality reduction. She also expressed satisfaction after visiting the facilities available at obstetrics and paediatrics departments.

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