1. Physical Health and Nutrition:
India has one of the poorest health records in the world. Every third child in India is malnourished and the infant and child mortality rate of the country is still very high. The infant mortality rate is 63 deaths for every 1000 live births and of these 47% of the deaths occur within the first week after birth.
When it comes to food based schemes, rampant discrimination in these schemes and the society in general, leads to starvation deaths among women and children of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. According to research studies, Muslim children have the highest rate of stunting and second highest rate of being underweight. There is little access to health facilities for children with disabilities or HIV/AIDS and there are almost no services or programmes for children with mental health issues. India also has the highest TB prevalence in the world, every three out of four children have anaemia, and polio eradication is actually backsliding rather than improving.
Due to varying social sector budgets across the country, health indicators differ greatly. According to UNICEF India, over two million children die every year from preventable diseases. Measles is the largest cause of death among children which can be prevented by a vaccine. Tetanus, a serious disease in newborns remains a major problem Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Assam.
