Alarming Rise In The Female Child Mortality Rate In India

Bangalore: In India around 1.5million kids under the age of five died in the year 2012, reveals says a study published by the medical journal Lancet. also has the highest under-5 death rate in the world. Over the years government has taken measures in reducing the number of infant deaths within in the country, but none of these steps yielded better results, reports Deccan Herald.

In the year 2012, around 74,000 baby girls died in India and these infants were below the age of five years. According to the study, there has been an increase in the female mortality rate in the country, which has increased by over 25 percent in 303 districts. Prabhat Jha, the author who worked on this study stated that the reasons for death of baby girls are due to pneumonia and diarrohea caused by lack of facilities.

“The primary reason for more deaths among girls is poor care in the family because of which girls suffer from malnutrition. Due to parental illiteracy, decisions are often made in favour of male children,” said Shally Awasthi, professor of paediatrics at King George Medical University, Lucknow, and one of the co-authors of the paper, to Deccan Herald.