INDIA-CHILDREN: UNICEF PRAISES NATIONAL SCHEMES
NEW DELHI, Dic 16 (IPS) - DESPITE CONTINUING MASS POVERTY AND LIMITED GOVERNMENT SOCIAL SPENDING, INDIA HAS MADE IMPRESSIVE GAINS IN CHILD SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT, SAYS THE U.N. CHILDREN'S BODY, UNICEF.
OVER THE PAST DECADE, CHEAP, YET EFFECTIVE HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES HAVE SLASHED CHILD DEATHS EVERY YEAR BY 500,000 AND GREATLY REDUCED PHYSICAL AND MENTAL IMPAIRMENT IN INDIA, UNICEF INDIA CHIEF JON E. ROHDE TOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE HERE FRIDAY WHILE RELEASING THE 1995 WORLD'S CHILDREN REPORT.
ACCORDING TO THE UNICEF REPORT, INDIA IS AMONG THE 100 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WHICH ARE ON COURSE TO REACH CHILD PROTECTION AND WELL BEING TARGETS SET BY THE LANDMARK 1990 WORLD CHILD SUMMIT.
THE GOALS FOR THE TURN OF THE CENTURY INCLUDE A ONE-THIRD REDUCTION IN 1990 CHILD MORTALITY LEVELS, HALVING MATERNAL DEATHS AND CHILD MALNUTRITION, 90 PERCENT IMMUNISATION, CLEAN WATER AND SAFE SANITATION FOR ALL AND BASIC SCHOOLING FOR ALL CHILDREN.
INDIA HAS MADE TREMENDOUS PROGRESS IN GUARANTEEING SAFE WATER TO ITS MAINLY RURAL POPULATION, PUTTING ITS CHILDREN IN SCHOOL AND IMMUNISATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN, SAYS UNICEF.
ONLY A FEW HUNDRED OF THE MORE THAN 500,000 HAMLETS DO NOT HAVE HANDPUMPS TO DRAW GROUND WATER OR ANY ANOTHER WATER SOURCE, SAID ROHDE. ALMOST ALL THE SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ARE ENROLLED IN CLASSES AND MORE THAN 80 PERCENT CHILDREN HAVE BEEN PROTECTED AGAINST THE SIX VACCINE-PREVENTABLE DISEASES, HE ADDED.
INDIA HAS ONE OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST LEVELS OF IMMUNISATION OF PREGNANT WOMEN AGAINST TETANUS. IN 1993, ONLY 4,000 MOTHERS HAD TETANUS FOR THE 26 MILLION BABIES BORN THAT YEAR, SAYS UNICEF.
"THE IMMUNISATION CAMPAIGN IS PAYING OFF AND CONTINUES TO BE THE BEDROCK OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN THIS COUNTRY," SAID ROHDE.
"ANOTHER AREA IN WHICH INDIA HAS MADE REMARKABLE PROGRESS IS IN THE EFFORT TO ERADICATE THE LARGEST CAUSE OF MENTAL RETARDATION," HE ADDED.
SOME 250 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY ARE STILL PRONE TO IODINE-DEFICIENCY DISORDERS, BUT INDIA IS MOVING FAST TOWARDS TACKLING THIS BY HAVING BANNED NON-IODISED SALT IN ALMOST ALL STATES. TWO-THIRDS OF SALT CONSUMED IS IODISED, DOUBLE THE LEVEL OF LAST YEAR, HE SAID.
INDIA WAS ALSO ONCE PLAGUED BY VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY WHICH NOT ONLY LEADS TO BLINDNESS, BUT LOWERS THE BODY'S RESISTANCE TO INFECTION. THE COUNTRY IS OVERCOMING THE NUTRIENT SHORTAGE CAUSED BY A LACK OF LEAFY VEGETABLES IN THE DIET BY INCLUDING THERAPY IN THE IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME, HE SAID.
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