Sons more likely to get treatment for chest infections in India

Even when it comes to hospitalizing their children, Indians discriminate between their sons and daughters. A male child with acute chest infections is nearly three times more likely to receive hospita

By: Editorial Team | | Published: January 30, 2013 8:44 am

Even when it comes to hospitalizing their children, Indians discriminate between their sons and daughters. A male child with acute chest infections is nearly three times more likely to receive hospital care than a girl child in India. Also Read - Home remedies: 5 easy ways to get rid of chest infection

This was announced on Tuesday by scientists from the University of Edinburgh in the UK who conducted a first-of-its-kind large scale study. The study noted that this was because male children are slightly more susceptible to such illnesses and because families are more likely to ensure the sons receive health care. This gender disparity was visible across the developing world and was most pronounced in South Asia. In some areas of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, up to four times as many boys under five receive hospital care for chest infections compared with girls, the study published in the British medical journal the Lancet says. Also Read - Legendary actor Dilip Kumar admitted to hospital, complains of chest infection

According to the study, around 38% of children under five who became critically ill from chest infections did not even reach hospitals. Also Read - 4 yoga moves to clear chest congestion!

‘Boys are biologically 1.2 times more prone to be suffering from severe chest infections than girls. It is mainly due to smaller airways among boys. But in India, the difference becomes more acute in the ratio of boys getting hospitalized for pneumonia than girls confirming gender as the main reason behind the trend,’ Dr Harish Nair from the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Population Health Sciences, who led the study told TOI.

‘This study shows that much more could be done to reduce infection and save lives, such as by improving access to hospitals in the developing world, or by ensuring that both boys and girls receive similar health care,’ he said.

The study was conducted by a large international consortium of 76 researchers from 39 institutions, in 24 countries and was supported by the WHO. The study also reported that in Yamunanagar in Haryana, a boy aged 0-11 months is 3.2 times more likely to get hospitalized than a girl child. In Vellore, it is 1.8 times more likely and in Ballabgarh, it is 3.7 times more likely.

12 million children under five are hospitalised worldwide with chest infections each year. A male child in Southeast Asia is 1.9 times more likely to receive hospital care when affected with pneumonia while it is 1.3 times in the US and in Africa it is 1.4 times.

Published : January 30, 2013 8:44 am

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