Problems Faced By

Children
Presented by Antony Michaeline Praveen Dharani Niranjan Kaaviya

Major Problem Faced By Children

Health Nutrition Water, Environment and Sanitation HIV/AIDS Education

Health

More than two million children die every year from preventable infections.(like Measles etc.,) Infant mortality in India is as high as 63 deaths per 1,000 live births. The reasons for this high mortality are that few women have access to skilled birth attendants and fewer still to quality emergency obstetric care The number of polio cases in India declined from 1,934 in 1998 to 268 in 2001. There was a setback in 2002 as 1,600 cases were confirmed at the end of the year. But with only 225 cases of polio reported in 2003

Government of India Action on Health

Strengthen existing health systems by increasing the number of health workers Prevent newborn deaths through home-based medical visits Increase childrens access to immunisation

Nutrition

Malnutrition is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. One in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India. 1 in 3 of the world's malnourished children lives in India. Malnutrition in early childhood has serious, long-term consequences because it impedes motor, sensory, cognitive, social and emotional development. Anaemia affects 74 per cent of children under the age of three, more than 90 per cent of adolescent girls and 50 per cent of women. Iodine deficiency, which reduces learning capacity by up to 13 per cent, is widespread because fewer than half of all households use iodised salt.

Government of India Action on Nutrition

Commitment to reduce malnutrition and low birthweight through national and state level policies.(Such as National Programme for Nutrition Support to Primary Education) Use of community-based approach to address malnutrition and child development. Provision of Vitamin A and iron supplementation to address damage caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Water, environment and sanitation

Diarrhoea remains the major cause of death amongst children, after respiratory- tract infections. Unhygienic practices and unsafe drinking water are some of its main causes. An estimated 400,000 children under five years of age die each year due to diarrhoea. In some parts of the country, excessive arsenic and fluoride in drinking water also pose a major health threat. The lack of toilets also affects girls school attendance. Of Indias 700,000 rural primary and upper primary schools, only one in six have toilets, deterring children - especially girls - from going to school.

Government of India action on the Childs Environment

Achieve full coverage in rural water supply by 2020 Strengthen the sector reform initiative in rural water supply and sanitation Increase use of schools and hygiene practices at homes and schools

HIV/AIDS

The first case of HIV/AIDS was reported in India in Tamil Nadu in 1986. Today, there are 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS in India. The new findings conclude that 38% of the infected persons in India are women. This indicates the increasing.This alarming trend is being observed closely as more HIV positive mothers will unknowingly pass the virus on to their children. The current HIV/AIDS programmes are reaching only 15% of young people and 17% of high-risk groups such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users. Less than one quarter of young people have accurate information on how to protect themselves from HIV

Govenment of India Action on HIV AIDS

Ensure safe blood transfusion Scale up programmes for individuals and communities at high risk Scale up prevention of parent-to-child transmission, care, support and treatment

Education

The number of children attending school has gone up many-fold since the time of Indias Independence increasing from around 19.2 million in 1950-51 to 113.8 million in 200001 90 million females in India are non-literate But 20 per cent of children aged 6 to14 are still not in school and millions of women remain non-literate despite the spurt in female literacy in the 1990s. In addition are cultural factors: continuing discrimination against the girl child plays a crucial role in creating resistance around sending girls to school.

In states like Bihar, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, 60 per cent or more girls dropped out before completing their five years primary education.

Government of India Action on Education

Made elementary education a fundamental right(RTE) Strengthen coverage of the Education for All programme Intensify efforts in accelerating girls education

Child Labour, Child Trafficking

With an estimated 12.6 million children engaged in hazardous occupations (2001 Census), for instance, India has the largest number of child laborers under the age of 14 in the world. Although poverty is often cited as the cause underlying child labour, other factors such as discrimination, social exclusion, as well as the lack of quality education or existing parents attitudes and perceptions about child labour and the role and value of education need also to be considered Trafficking of children also continues to be a serious problem in India. The nature and scope of trafficking range from industrial and domestic labour, to forced early marriages and commercial sexual exploitation. Existing studies show that over 40 per cent of women sex workers enter into prostitution before the age of 18 years.

Government of India Action On Child Labour

Strengthen National Child Labour Project (NCLP) active across 13 states Expand coverage of services for sexually exploited children Expand coverage of services for children of adult sex workers

Thank You!!