India News | MoS Pawar Launches Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight-2022

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar on Monday launched the 'Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight - 2022' (IDFC) here to put an end to child mortality due to diarrhoea

The awareness programme will be implemented from June 13 to 27 in all the states and union territories.

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Quoting Sample Registration System (SRS) 2019 report, the minister said that child mortality rate in the country has come down considerably since 2014.

"This rate has come down from 45 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 35 per 1,000 live births in 2019. But even today, diseases related to diarrhoea continue to be a major cause of death in children under the age of five," she said.

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The minister highlighted that dehydration is the biggest cause of diarrhoea in children, followed by change in baby's diet, use of antibiotics or some kind of bacterial or parasitic infection, a statement issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said.

Emphasising the importance of prevention and mitigation methods, Pawar said that according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), only 60.6 per cent children under the age of five with diarrhoea were given Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS) and only 30.5 pc were given zinc, suggesting a lack of awareness among mothers.

She stressed on the need for more awareness campaigns so that the rate of child mortality due to diarrhoea can be brought down to the minimum level, adding that IDCF is being organised since 2014 with the same objective.

"A multi-sectoral participation approach at various governance levels for better impacts like mass awareness generation, rallies, competitions in schools, State and District level launch by leaders etc. will be beneficial in achieving our target," Pawar said.

The minister further said that diarrhoea can be prevented through safe drinking water, breastfeeding/appropriate nutrition, hygiene and hygiene measures like hand-washing etc, which has also been emphasised through initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission.

In view of the high prevalence of diarrhoea, this fortnight is organised especially during summer or monsoon to ensure that effective preventive measures are taken, the statement said.

IDCF consists of a set of activities to be implemented in an intensified manner for prevention and control of deaths due to dehydration from diarrhoea across all states and UTs, it said.

These activities mainly include intensification of advocacy and awareness generation activities for diarrhoea management, strengthening service provision for diarrhoea case management, establishment of ORS-Zinc corners, prepositioning of ORS by ASHA in households with under-five children and awareness generation activities for hygiene and sanitation, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)