Delegates attend the media consultation at Scada Business Centre in Patna on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, April 25: One child dies in every 15 seconds in India, says a survey carried out by Save the Children, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The NGO is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, which presently addresses the priority needs of children in 10 states of the country.

Save the Children organised a state-level media consultation today on the topic “Every mother and every child has the right to survive”, which was attended by S.P. Srivastava, the former head of the paediatrics department of PMCH and Gaurav Kumar, the deputy director of maternal health, State Health Society, Bihar.

S.A. Krishna, the former head of the paediatrics department, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital and O.P. Kansal, the health officer of Unicef, Bihar, were also present at the meet.

Srivastava said: “Bihar accounts for 12 per cent of India’s neonatal deaths, more than 11 neonates die every hour in Bihar. Neonatal deaths form a large part of all deaths under the age of five. More than 1 million newborns in Bihar have low weight (2.5kg) during birth and they have high chances of death within first 28 days of birth.”

He added: “Neonatal deaths are directly related to mother’s age during the time of birth. Lower the age of the mother, higher will be the risk. The major factors responsible for neonatal deaths are poor nutrition and anaemia among adolescent girls and women, low coverage and quality of antenatal and postnatal care, young age of mothers during conception and pregnancy, delayed initiation of breast feeding and many other cases.”

Srivastava suggested: “The need of the hour is appropriate, practical, cost-effective diagnostic and treatment measures and awareness of problems. Service should be provided at the lowest level of healthcare system, redistribution of heath services to communities. Quality care is important as well as access to care.”

The organisers of the event stressed the role of media as it becomes crucial in terms of creating awareness in the society regarding subjects that aggravate the problem of neonatal deaths.