E-Paper
Under-5 mortality rate in UP high, says expert
A TWO-DAY training workshop for the effective implementation of ?Bal Swasthya Poshan Mah? (BSPM) started on Tuesday. The training workshop, organised by the Department of Community Medicine, MLN Medical College in coordination with the UNICEF, was inaugurated by principal of MLN Medical College Prof PC Saxena.
A TWO-DAY training workshop for the effective implementation of ‘Bal Swasthya Poshan Mah’ (BSPM) started on Tuesday. The training workshop, organised by the Department of Community Medicine, MLN Medical College in coordination with the UNICEF, was inaugurated by principal of MLN Medical College Prof PC Saxena.
Prof Saxena said the trainers who were participating in the workshop were expected to provide quality training to the health staff for better implementation of Bal Swasthya Poshan programme. Head of the Paediatric Department Prof Rajiv Saran informed about the different diseases affecting children in different age groups.
Head of Department of Community Medicine Dr Shraddha Dwivedi said BSPM was organised twice every year to improve the health and nutritional status of children and to create community awareness regarding different aspects of health of the children. Uttar Pradesh had the largest population in the country, 170 million, out of which 15 million were below three years of age, she said.
“It has a high under-five mortality rate of 123 per thousand children while the national average is 95. More than 50 per cent of children below three years of age are malnourished in the state.
Risk of infections like diarrhoea and pneumonia increase in malnourished children and these in turn further precipitate malnutrition. As a consequence, the child is trapped in the vicious cycle of malnutrition and disease which often leads to death below six years of age,” she added.
Dr Dwivedi said breast feeding, introduction of supplementary nutrition at appropriate age, immunisation and vitamin A supplements played an important role in reducing the risk of death in children.
The importance of Vitamin A could be assessed from the fact that administration of five doses of Vitamin A at regular intervals of six months could reduce the death rate in children by 23 per cent, she said.
UNICEF representative Dr Sheela Vir and Dr Ramesh Chandra also addressed the workshop. Also present on the occasion were Prof M Dabral, Prof Uday Mohan and Dr G Singh.
