'Levels and Trends in Child Mortality' report

WHY IN NEWS?

India’s under-5 mortality of girls exceeds that of boys, unlike global trend, says 'Levels and Trends in Child Mortality' report.

ABOUT 'LEVELS AND TRENDS IN CHILD MORTALITY' REPORT

• The Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2019 from UNICEF and partners in theUN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), shows the full scope of child mortality rates across the world – from newborns to adolescents – as well as the progress made toward meeting the SDG targets by 2030.
• India is among the few countries in the world where, in 2018, the mortality under-5 years of girls, exceeded that of boys, according to the ‘Levels and Trends in Child Mortality’ report by the United Nations (UN) inter-agency group for child mortality.
• The majority of child mortality cases in India are attributable to deaths during the neonatal period.
• The major causes of neonatal mortality are preterm birth, intrapartum related events and neonatal infection.
• In the post-neonatal period, the major direct causes of death are diarrhoea and pneumonia.
• India’s neonatal mortality rate is 23 per 1,000 live births.
• According to India’s 2017 Sample Registration System (SRS), the States with the highest burden of neonatal mortality are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, with 32, 33 and 30 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively.
• Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand showed the largest gender gaps in under-5 mortality.
• Uttar Pradesh is the state with the highest number of estimated newborn deaths in India, both because of the high neonatal mortality rate and because of the large number of births that occur every year in the State.
• According to the report, half of all under-5 deaths in 2018 occurred in five countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.
• India and Nigeria alone account for about a third.

Prelims Question

Q. The Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report which was recently in news was launched by which among the following?
a)UNICEF
b)UNDP
c)World Bank
d)International Bureau of Child Rights

Answer to the Prelims Question