22 babies died daily within 28 days of birth: RTI reply

As many as 13,541 children under the age of five died in the State in a span of 11 months, a Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed.

A study of 11,532 deaths between April 2017 and February 2018 by the health department revealed that 65% of the children — 22 a day on an average — died in the first 28 days of their life, 21% children died between 28 days to one year and 14% died between one to five years of age.

While infant mortality (28 days to one year) and child mortality (ages one to five) rates have dipped in the Maharashtra, data obtained by RTI activist Chetan Kothari, which only focuses on the 11-month period, reveals the alarming number of deaths within the first month of birth.

Long struggle

According to Dr. Bhupendra Avasthi, director of Surya Child Care, the trend that the RTI data shows is not surprising. “We have been struggling to get a grip on the number of newborn babies we are losing every year for a long time,” he said.

Dr. Avasthi said newborn intensive care has to be protocolised just like adult intensive care has been over the years. “Newborn intensive care units require trained doctors, nurses who can monitor them round the clock. Besides the government, private practitioners, NGOs and big philanthropic organisations should step in to save the babies,” he said.

Changes under way

Dr. Sanjeev Kamble, head of the State Directorate of Health Services, said several measures are being implemented to bring down child mortality. “We are focusing on special newborn care units in hospitals and making other changes,” he said. This year, the data from the Registrar General of India’s sample registration system had said child mortality had gone down to 21 deaths per 1,000 children in the State in 2016, as compared to 23 in 2014 and 24 in 2015. Officials hope the statistics for 2018 will reflect improvement.