In India, every 8 minutes one woman dies due to pregnancy related causes which are preventable. With the death of a mother her children are much more likely to die before age
In India, one child dies every 17 seconds due to easily preventable causes. On the scale of ‘best place to be a mother’, India ranks 75 out of 79 developing countries
India accounts for 25% of global child deaths
Kerala has the lowest Maternal Mortality in the country and has 100% Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in place.
In India, only 10% of the most wealthy women deliver without trained health workers, compared to around an estimated 80% of the poorest women
No Link Found Between Economic Growth and Child Undernutrition Rates in
India
ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2011) — Economic growth in India has
no automatic connection to reducing undernutrition in Indian children and so
further reductions in the prevalence of childhood undernutrition are likely
to depend on direct investments in health and health-related programs. These
are the conclusions of a large study by researchers at the Schools of Public
Health at University of Michigan and Harvard University. Download pdf
25% of all Global Maternal Deaths are in India. WHO defines maternal mortality as the death of a woman during pregnancy or
in the first 42 days after the birth of the child due to causes directly or indirectly linked with pregnancy.
Globally, every year over 500,000 women die of pregnancy related causes and
99 percent of these occur in developing countries.
The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India is 254 per 100,000 live
births according to Sample Registration System (SRS) Report for
2004-2006. This is a decline from the earlier ratio of 301 during 2001-2003.
In the region, the MMR in China stands at 45, Sri Lanka at 58,
Bangladesh at 570, Nepal at 830 and Pakistan at 320 in 2006.
Wide disparities exist across states in India. The MMR ranges from 95 in Kerala to 480 in Assam.
MMR has a direct impact on infant mortality Babies whose mothers die
during the first 6 weeks of their lives are far more likely to die in the
first two years of life than babies whose mothers survive.
Only 47 per cent of women likely in India have an institutional delivery
and 53 percent had their births assisted by a skilled birth attendant. As
many as 49 percent of pregnant women still do not have three antenatal
visits during pregnancy. Only 46.6 percent of mothers receive iron and folic acid for at least 100 days during pregnancy.
Key Issues
About half of the total maternal deaths occur because of hemorrhage
and sepsis. A large number of deaths are preventable through safe
deliveries and adequate maternal care.
More than half of all married women are anaemic and one-third of
them are malnourished
The Government of India has a legal obligation to ensure that women do not
die or suffer complications as a result of preventable pregnancy-related
causes. The staggering scale and continuing occurrence of maternal deaths
and morbidity in India reveals the Government’s failure to protect women’s
rights and comply with international law.
As the nation leading the world with respect to the number of maternal
deaths, the Indian government has an immediate obligation to take meaningful
steps to dramatically reduce maternal mortality by fully implementing
national policies on maternal health and holding those responsible for the
failure of its policies accountable.
This report is intended to serve as a resource for those interested in using
international and constitutional legal norms and mechanisms to establish
government accountability for maternal deaths and pregnancy-related
morbidity through public interest litigation and human rights advocacy.
More than 5,000 Indian children below five years
die every day due to malnourishment or lack of basic micronutrients
like Vitamin A, iron, iodine, zinc or folic acid.
Overall, India hosts 57 million - or more than a third - of the world's 146
million undernourished children. 45.9 per cent of India's under-three kids
are underweight, 39 per cent are stunted, 20 per cent severely malnourished,
80 per cent anaemic while infant mortality hovers at 67 per 1,000. 440
million people languish at the bottom of the economic pyramid in India and
about 500,000 children are born deformed each year due to vitamin/mineral deficiencies.
"Malnourishment severely retards a child's cognitive, physical and emotional
growth and has a cascading effect on his/her productivity in adult years." -- Dr Suresh Kasana, New Delhi
"India should be worried." Experts reiterate that child malnutrition
is not only responsible for 22 per cent of India's disease burden -
and for 50 per cent of the 2.3 million child deaths in India -- but
is also a serious economic hazard.
Neeta Lal reports.
Why
Is Breastfeeding So Important? Download
.pdf 17.5 mb.
Breastfeeding provides the perfect nutrition for your baby and provides many
health benefits for both mother and baby. - Initiating breast feeding within the first hour and exclusive
breastfeeding can prevent under two mortality. - Breastfeeding: Exclusive breastfeeding - Colostrum - Gift of a protective cover from the mother - We believe all mothers know how to feed their child. But do they? - Myths and facts about breast milk - Complimentary feeding - Role of media in promoting proper young child feeding: Media should focus
on and promote measures that are required to be taken urgently to ensure the
survival of children
India is a vast, complex country, and despite recent economic development, its health-care system is inadequate to deal with the country's main health
challenges: infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and poor maternal and child health.
A new Lancet Series engages with the construct of Health for
All in India by investigating the Indian health system, and to offer solutions for evidence-based and affordable health care for all Indian citizens by 2020.
India has supported the ideal of health for all since it become an independent nation more than 60 years ago. The Bhore Committee report 1 in
1946 recommended a national health system for delivery of comprehensive preventive and curative allopathic services through a rural-focused
multilevel public system, financed by the government, through which all citizens would receive care irrespective of their ability to pay. However, a
newly independent India faced monumental challenges in 1947.
Despite the severe impact of diarrhoea on children's health and mortality in India, recent surveys show that only half of all children suffering from
diarrhoea receive treatment or medical advice, and more than two-thirds receive no Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT). An understanding of the
socio-demographic determinants for appropriate treatment of the disease will be critical for improving these figures. This analysis is based on the most
recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS3), which shows that children are more likely to receive ORT if they are treated in a public health facility,
rather than in a private health facility. Households with mothers belonging to the youngest age group, lowest educational attainment, and poorest wealth
index are the least likely groups to properly treat their children suffering from diarrhoea. A significant gender bias also exists as parents show a
preferential treatment of male children and delay seeking treatment for their female children. The low usage of ORT can also be attributed to a
combination of low health knowledge among the aforementioned groups, and low use of public health facilities.
268.1 million Poor*
*equals population of US or Indonesia.
Every fourth person in India lives below the poverty line - earns under a US dollar a day.
27.3 million Hungry*
*equals population of Morocco or Venezuela.
Three out of 100 people go hungry. India has the highest number of undernourished.
302.5 million Illiterate*
*equals population of Russia.
Both a cause and effect of poverty. Half the world's illiterates live in India.
1.8 million Infant Mortality*
*equals population of Panama or Kuwait.
Babies don't live long due to the lack of medical care and immunisation.
12.2 million Non-Immunised Children*
*equals population of Cambodia or Angola.
46.7 per cent of infants have no access to standard immunisation programmes.
Sources: Indicus Analytics | August, 2003
Economic Crises Affect Children. Interview with Jed Friedman. WorldBank
India: Census 2011: Provisional Population Totals-
pdf 4.3 mb
Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India - Ministry of Home Affairs - 31st March 2011
Census India - 2001
Rural - Urban distribution of population - India and States / Union Territories
National Health Research Policy - 16 pages -
pdf 90 kb
Department of Health Research Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India - New Delhi, February 2011
Achieving MDGs in India
Elimination of inequalities and harnessing new opportunities for implementation of policies and programmes
INDIA’S HEARTLAND STATES NEED URGENT ACTION TO FAST TRACK PROGRESS
The absolute number of poor in the country has declined from about 320 million (36
percent of total population) in 1993-94 to about 301 million (27.6 percent
of total population) in 2004-05. With this rate of decline, the country is
expected to have a burden of about 279 million of people (22.1 percent)
living below the poverty line in the year 2015.
All-India trend of the proportion of underweight (severe and moderate) children below
three years of age shows India is going slow in eliminating the effect of
malnourishment. The estimate of the proportion has declined only marginally
during 1998-99 to 2005-06, from about 47 to about 46 percent and at this
rate of decline is expected to come down to about 40 percent only by 2015.
With 1.9 million tuberculosis cases estimated in 2008 India has one fifth of the
world’s total. Globally India also made the most notable progress in
providing treatment across the country’s entire population – in 2008 over
1.5 million patients were enrolled for treatment.
During the past decade India’s forest cover has increased by 728 sq. km, access to
improved water sources is up from 68.2 percent in 1992-93 to 84.4% in
2007-08 – in urban areas it has gone up to 95%. According to India’s MDG
Report “India, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, has
the lowest sanitation coverage”. Sanitation remains a major challenge and
half the population does not have access to toilets – in rural areas this is
as high as 66%.
Going at the rate by which youth literacy increased between 1991 and 2001- from 61.9 to
76.4 percent, India is expected to have youth literacy of 82.1 by 2007 and
100 percent by the end of 2012.
Gender parity in primary and secondary education is likely to be achieved though
not in tertiary education. However, share of women in wage employment in
the non-agricultural sector can at best be expected to reach a level of
about 24 percent by 2015, far short of a parity situation.
The
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight
goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development
challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration
that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments
during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
The fourth Millennium Development Goal aims to reduce by mortality among
children under five by two-thirds. India’s Under Five Mortality (U5MR)
declined from 125 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 74.6 per 1,000 live
births in 2005-06. U5MR is expected to further decline to 70 per 1,000 live
births by 2015. This means India would still fall short of the target of 42
per 1,000 live births by 2015. Child survival needs to sharper focus. This
includes better managing neonatal and childhood illnesses and improving
child survival, particularly among vulnerable communities. Survival risk
remains a key challenge for the disadvantaged who have little access to
reproductive and child health services. Major states in the heartland of
India are likely to fall significantly short of these targets, by more than 20 points.
Key to significant progress in reducing U5MR and infant mortality rates
rests with reducing at a fast pace, neonatal deaths that is, infant deaths that occur in within a year of birth.
From a Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) of 437 per 100,000 live births in
1990-91, India is required to reduce MMR to 109 per 100,000 live births by
2015. Between 1990 and 2006, there has been some improvement in the Maternal
Mortality Rate (MMR) which has declined to 254 per 100,000 live births as
compared to 327 in 1990. However despite this progress, India is expected to
fall short of the 2015 target by 26 points. Safe motherhood depends on the
delivery by trained personnel, particularly through institutional
facilities. However delivery in institutional facilities has risen slowly
from 26% in 1992-93 to 47% in 2007-08. Consequently, deliveries by skilled
personnel have increased at the same pace, from 33% to 52% in the same
period. By 2015 India is expected to be able to ensure only 62% of births
occur in institutional facilities with trained personnel. Thus universal
coverage remains to be achieved.
India has made significant strides in reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS
across different types of high risk categories. Eighty-six percent of
transmissions of HIV/AIDS in India are caused by sexual activity. Much of
this decline can be attributed to greater awareness and increasing condom
use. Adult prevalence has come down from 0.34% in 2007 to 0.45% in 2002.
Malaria – both in terms of prevalence and death has declined. Malaria
diagnosis has declined from 1.745 in 2005 to 1.52% in 2009. Further, malaria
prone states such as the North Eastern states, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal have recorded fewer malaria deaths since 2006.
India accounts for one-fifth of the global incidence of tuberculosis (TB)
but India has made progress in halting its prevalence. Treatment success
rates have remained steady at 86-87% over the last five years and prevalence
of TB has steadily declined.
Notes :
1 - Data refer to a year other than that specified.
2 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject to
further revision.
3 - Excluding the state of Tripura.
4 - Data refer to a UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimate where no
national estimate is available.
5 - Data refer to the 1998/99 school year.
6 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject to
further revision.
7 - Data refer to 1992.
8 - Data refer to 2000.
9 - Survey based on consumption.
10 - Data refer to 2000.
11 - Data refer to 1999.
12 - Preliminary UNESCO estimate, subject to further revision.
13 -
Ratification,
acceptance, approval, accession or succession.
Signature.
14 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject
to further revision.
15 - Data refer to the 1999/2000 school year.
16 - No wage data available. For purposes of calculating the
estimated female and male earned income, an estimate of 75% was used
for the ratio of the female non-agricultural wage to the male
non-agricultural wage.
17 - Data refer to the 1998/99 school year.
18 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject
to further revision.
19 - Data are preliminary and subject to further revision.
20 - Data refer to the 1998/99 school year .
21 - Data refer to the 1999/2000 school year.
22 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimate, subject to
further revision.
23 - Data refer to 1989.
24 - Data refer to 2000.
25 - Data refer to 1992.
The
Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates
back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded
about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier
Dravidian inhabitants created the
classicalIndian
culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and
Turkish
in the 12th were followed by those of
European
traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century,
Britain had assumed political control of virtually all
Indian lands.
Indian armed
forces in the
British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent
resistance to
British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU
brought
independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the
secular state of
India and the smaller
Muslim
state of Pakistan.
A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East
Pakistan
becoming the separate nation of
Bangladesh.
Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output,
India faces
pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with
Pakistan over
Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive
poverty, and ethnic and
religious
strife.
Population growth, from 443 million in 1960 to 1,004
million in 2000
Map showing the population density of each district in
India
Map showing the population growth over the past ten years
of each district in India
Map showing the literacy rate of each district in India
Chart showing the Total Fertility Rate of Indian states
(SRS survey 1996-98)[1]
India
has a population of approximately 1.136 billion people (estimate
for September 1, 2007 based on interpolating on estimates by Census
Bureau of India for March 1 of 2007 and 2008), comprising
approximately one-sixth of the world's population. This population
is remarkably diverse; it has more than two thousand
ethnic groups, and every major
religion is represented, as are four major
families of
languages (Indo-European,
Dravidian,
Austro-Asiatic and
Tibeto-Burman languages) as well as a
language isolate (the
Nihali language[2]
spoken in parts of
Maharashtra). Further complexity is lent by the great variation
that occurs across this population on social parameters such as
income and education. Only the continent of Africa exceeds the
linguistic, cultural and genetic diversity of India.[3]
These factors render the task of comprehensively detailing the
Demographics of India prohibitive; some important indices are
available, nevertheless.
Although
India
occupies only 2.4% of the world's land area, it supports over 16%
of the world's population. 31.8% of Indians are younger than 15
years of age.[4]
As per the 2001 census, 72.22% of the people live in more than
550,000 villages, and the remainder in more than 2000 towns and
cities.[citation
needed][5]
Although 80.5% of the people are
Hindus,[6]
India is also home to the third-largest
Muslim
population in the world 13.4% after Indonesia and Pakistan. India
also contains the majority of the world's
Zoroastrians,
Sikhs
and
Jains. Other religious groups include
Christians (2.3%),
Buddhists (0.8%),
Jews and
Bah�'�s.[7]
Census
The most recent
census
of India was performed in
2001
for enumeration as of March 1 of that year.[8]
It was the 14th census in an unbroken series, and the 6th after
independence in 1947 (with the exception that census could not be
held for
Assam in the 1981 and
Jammu & Kashmir in 1991). Eight censuses were performed under
the
British Raj, the first one was carried out throughout the
1860s
and completed in
1872.
After this, there has been 'one census every decade starting
1881'.
The 2001 census was conducted in two phases, the first being
Housenumbering and Houselisting operations, carried out in May
2000, and the second being population enumeration, carried out from
February 9 to 28, 2001. The reference time for the census is 1
March, 2001. The homeless population was enumerated on 28 February.
A revisional round was undertaken 1 to 5 March 2001 to account for
mutations between the time of visit in February and 1 March.[citation
needed]
The total population calculated for 1 March 2001 was
1,027,015,247, making the 2001 census the first to count more than
a billion Indians.[9]
The population had risen by 21.34% compared to the 1991 total. The
female population had increased by 0.3 percentage points to 48.4%.[10]
See list of
States of India by urban population. Maharashtra has the
largest urban agglomeration while Delhi is the most urbanised
market at over 93% urbanization.
There are several
nomadic
communities found in all over
India.
Their population is not estimated in India, but it is supposed that
they make up 7% of total population of India[citation
needed].
Key data
Total Population: 1,129.9 million(July 1, 2007 est. CIA)[11]
1,028.7 million(2001 Census final figures, March 1 enumeration and
estimated 124 thousand in areas of Manipur that could not be
covered in the enumeration)
Percent of the population under the poverty line: 22%
(2006 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 7.8%
Net migration rate: − -0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2007 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.098 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.061 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.908 male(s)/female total population: 1.064 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 34.61 deaths/1,000 live
births (2007 est.) female: 29.23 deaths/1,000 live births male:
39.42 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.59 years male: 66.28 years female: 71.17 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.81 children born/woman (2007
est.) The TFR (Total number of children born per women ) according
to Religion in 2001 was : Hindus - 2.27, Muslims - 3.06, Sikhs -
1.86, Christians - 2.06, Buddhists - 2.29, Jains - 1.50 , Animists
and Others - 2.99, Tribals - 3.16, Scheduled Castes - 2.89.[13]
Nationality: noun: Indian(s) adjective: Indian
Religions: Hindu 82.5%, Muslim 11.4%, Christian 2.31%,
Buddhists 0.8%, Sikh 1.93%, Jains 0.41%, others or not stated 0.76%
(2001 Census)[citation
needed]
Censuses were conducted in parts of India in the ancient times
with examples such as
Kautilya's
Arthashastra which describes the collection of population
statistics for taxation in 4th century B.C.. The
British census in
1865-1872
was the first conducted in modern times in India.
The
2001 census figures released by the India Census Commission
give a breakdown by various parameters including religion.
β.^
The data is "unadjusted" (without excluding
Assam
and
Jammu and Kashmir); 1981 census was not conducted in Assam
and 1991 census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir
It should also be noted that about 40% of the Hindus speak Hindi
while the rest speak Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil,
Gujarati,Kannada and other languages. Almost 70% of the Muslims
speak Urdu while the rest speak Kashmiri, Bengali, Malayalam,
Tamil, Gujarati and other languages. About one-third of the
Christians speak Malayalam, one-sixth speak Tamil while the rest
speak a variety of languages.
It should be noted that
Indo-Aryan, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman are racial and
linguistic terms and denote members of these racial groups and
speakers of their linguistic groups.
English enjoys associate status but is the most
important language for national, political, and commercial
communication; Hindi is the official language and primary tongue
of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages:
Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam,
Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and
Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken
widely throughout northern India but is not an official language.
Literacy Rate
(Definition: Age 15 and over that can read and write)
pdf
Why
Is Breastfeeding So Important?
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