Ashutosh Shukla
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Written By: Ashutosh Shukla | Published : August 12, 2013 4:56 PM IST
As many as 32,664 children below five years have died in Mumbai city and suburbs in the past five years (from 2008 to 2012).
The alarming number was revealed through Right To Information (RTI) Act.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) gave the figure to RTI activist Chetan Kothari.
'It was only after the first appeal that the BMC gave me the statistics. I was simply shocked when I got the information,' said Kothari.
The BMC couldn't give reasons for the large number of deaths.
Child specialists said there could be a variety of reasons for this. 'The deaths could be complications at the time of birth, malnutrition, infections, lack of hygiene, tuberculosis and so on,' said Dr Samir Dalwai, an executive committee member of Indian Academy of Paediatric Surgeons, Mumbai chapter.
Child specialist Dr Uma Venkateshwaran said the causes vary from one age group to another. In this case, premature delivery could be one of the factors, she added.
As per the figures provided, 2009 saw the highest number of deaths in the last five years at 7,115. The total number of deaths in 2008 was 6,986. In 2012, a total of 5,869 children below five years died.
The health department, too, failed to come up with reasons for the deaths.
The details on the age-wise and gender-wise deaths showed infant deaths as the highest. As per the figures provided, deaths of children below 1 year in 2008 were 5,754 out of 6,986. These figures were consistently over 80% of the total deaths happening every year. In 2012, the same was 5,045 out of 5,869 deaths.
Experts said that the message to be taken home should not be based on the overall figures but that of the mortality rate.
'Rather than absolute numbers, we need to look at the deaths from the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the under-5 mortality rate point of view. However, even one preventable death is a cause of concern,' said Dr Dalwai, also developmental paediatrician, Indian Academy of Paediatrics.
He added that it should not come as a surprise that infant deaths have the largest component. 'It is well known that infant mortality will be the largest component of the under-5 age group death and the neo-natal (up to one-month-old children deaths) will be highest component amongst infant deaths,' he said.
He added that nutrition, breast feeding, hygiene, vaccination/ immunisation and awareness should be the focus of public heath initiatives to avoid such deaths.
As far as figures in the community are concerned, the most deaths took place among the Hindu community.
Consistently, the figure hovered over 62% sometimes as high as 66%. The Sikh community had the least number of deaths followed by the Christian community. Deaths in Muslim community hovered between 32 and 36%.
'Deaths occur due to various reasons. These could be neo-natal issues, infections, hygiene issues and malnutrition. Education among women plays a big role in curbing such deaths. In certain communities like the Sikhs and Christians, women are more educated and so can take better care of their child,' said Dr Ashok Rathod, head of department of JJ Hospital.
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