Summit to discuss country's inability to reach Millennium Development Goals.
At least 24 countries will converge in New Delhi at the end of August to discuss best practices for curbing mother and child deaths that occur due to preventable reasons.
'The Call to Action 2015' is a two-day summit that will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 27. It will assess every country's progress on curbing maternal mortality, malnutrition, infant and child mortality, access to clean water and sanitation as charted out by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations.
Set in 2000s, the MDGs expire in December 2015, and India is one of the many countries that has been unable to meet the goals of reducing child and maternal deaths, as per the prescribed targets. MDGs demand that the death of expectant mothers and newborns as well as children under five be reduced by two-thirds between 2000 to 2015. Forty-nine out of every 1,000 children in India under the age of five die due to multiple illnesses. MDGs require these levels to go down to 42 per 1,000 live births. India ranks below several Asian countries — Thailand and China as well as neighbouring Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives as far as fulfillment of MDGs is concerned. In Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh children dying below the age of one stand above 50 deaths per 1,000 live births even as MDG goals dictate that the levels should be halved to 25 deaths per 1,000 live births.
"In 1990, India's under-five mortality rate stood at 126 while the global average was 90. In 2013, India achieved an accelerated decline in its under-five mortality that dropped to 49. The annual rate of decline from 2008-13 has been 6.6%, indicating that India is closer to achieving its under-five mortality MDG target, if the current trend of decline continues," stated a release by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
Twenty-one % of all deliveries in pregnant ladies occur at home in India. "India was expected to reduce it to at least 109 deaths per one lakh, but it has failed to fulfill the MDGs. Sepsis and haemorrhage caused during deliveries that occur at home can be prevented through proper check ups but care is not reaching expectant mothers in India," said Sambit Basu, director, IDFC Limited.
"India has been able to cut down its maternal mortality ratio from 560 in 1990 to 167 in 2013, which is much faster than the global averages of 310 in 1990 and 210 in 2013," stated the MoHFW release.
What are MDGs
MDGs range from halving poverty levels, achieving universal primary education levels, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, providing clean drinking water and sanitation to all, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, ensuring environmental sustainability and partnering with developed countries for global development.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "mother and baby")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}