New Forum to Improve Child Survival Launched by Indian MPs

Members of Parliament in India have revealed that they will be forming a new forum that can help improve child survival in the country after a new report revealed that India accounts for nearly one-fifth of global child deaths caused by pneumonia and diarrhea. The forum has Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal and Jamshedpur MP Ajoy Kumar as conveners while many other parliamentarians have given support to it.

"Pneumonia and diarrhea are two diseases that are killing lakhs of children every year in India. What is even more unfortunate is that the target is often children with little or no access to medical attention. It is time we addressed this critical issue of child survival in India, because we need to work towards saving our tomorrow," said Jaiswal.

The forum will also spearhead campaigns within the constituencies of the MPs in Bihar and Jharkhand to increase access and demand for comprehensive child survival interventions for diseases that kill a large percentage of children in the country.

Kumar said a parliamentary forum on child survival was a group that could work towards bringing down child mortality rates.

The forum will ensure that the issue of child health is articulated at the top of the national and state government agendas and aim to create awareness and utilise platforms to raise the profile of child survival.

The members will engage with various experts such as doctors, civil society representatives and organisations working on child survival to strategise on how to make the issue more visible.

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Source-IANS