India

Background

Economic growth in India has been strong over the past decade, especially in the information technology sector.  But this rising tide has not lifted all boats.  Significant disparities remain, based on class, caste, gender and geography.  The new United Progressive Alliance coalition government, which came into power in May 2004, has pledged to emphasize social development as part of its National Common Minimum Programme. It seeks to eliminate some of the inequalities in Indian society by reducing poverty, increasing public spending on education, speeding the delivery of health services and improving nutrition and food security. 

Issues facing children in India

• Polio remains a serious threat, notwithstanding a massive campaign to eradicate it.  Children continue to die of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.
• Malnutrition affects nearly half of all children under age five.
• Anaemia affects the vast majority of pregnant women and teenage girls, stunts children’s growth and is a leading cause of maternal death and babies with low birth weight. 
• Estimates of the number of people in India living with HIV/AIDS range from 2.2 million to 7.6 million.
• Diarrhoea, often caused by unsafe drinking water or poor sanitation, is the second leading cause of death among children. Access to clean drinking water has improved in recent years, but 122 million households lack toilets.
• School enrollment is increasing, but retention and completion rates remain low in part because of the poor quality of the education system, which emphasizes memorization over problem-solving.
• Women face many forms of gender discrimination. A national preference for male children has led to an increasing gap in gender ratios of children under age six, a trend that may be attributed to female foeticide.
• Despite a national campaign by the government, birth registration rates are low, especially in the poorest regions.
• The December 2004 tsunami struck India’s southeast coast and the Andaman and Nicobar islands, killing thousands and causing widespread destruction.

Activities and results for children

• Thanks to more than a billion doses of polio vaccines and a massive public education campaign, UNICEF and its partners have made significant progress toward wiping out polio.
• UNICEF helped deliver 49 million doses of vitamin A supplements in 2004, and has partnered with the government to distribute iron and folic acid tablets to teenage girls.
• To reduce malnutrition and child mortality, UNICEF is raising awareness of the importance of breastfeeding infants.
• India’s new government reinstated a ban on the sale of non-iodized salt, a move that will combat iodine deficiency.
• Reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS is an urgent priority. UNICEF has helped train hundreds of health-care teams in preventing mother-to-child transmission.
• School enrollment has increased over the past decade, and the gender gap in enrollment rates has been dramatically reduced. Literacy rates have improved as well.
• The government has made school sanitation and hygiene an integral part of its national sanitation and water supply programmes.