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Child Health

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Child Health

Introduction & Key Indicators:

Vision: of Child Health is to reduce child morbidity & mortality and to promote early childhood development to enable each child to realize his/ her full potential.

There has been steady decline in Child Mortality Indicators from 2016 to 2020.

Current Child Mortality Indicators as per SRS 2021 are: Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) - 8, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) – 12 and Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) -14.

Delhi has shown 63% decline in Infant deaths/1000 live births (Infant Mortality Rate) from 2010 to 2021. Delhi has shown decline in indicator of stunting in children <5 Yrs of age, from 31.9% (NFHS-4) to 30.9% (NFHS-5).

Following are programs with aim to reduce NMR, IMR and U5MR:

  1. Strengthening of Neonatal Care set-ups like NBCC (New Born Care Corner), Facility Based Newborn Care (SNCU/ NICUs), Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), Lactation Management Units (LMUs) at District hospitals, to target reduction in NMR & IMR.
  1. Facility Based Newborn Care (FBNC) (SNCU/NICU) for sick newborns in 34 FBNCs. National Newborn Week (NNW), a campaign to raise awareness about importance of newborn care for child survival and development was celebrated from 15th to 21st November, 2024.
  2. Lactation Management Units (LMUs) – 5 LMUs are functional at Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, CNBC, Swami Dayanand Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital and Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital to provide mother’s own milk to sick newborns in hospitals’ SNCU/NICU. In F.Y. 2024-25, 29368 mothers received Lactation Counselling; 7775 mothers used LMU facility for Expression of breastmilk; 1190 litres of expressed breastmilk (EBM) was collected and 10244 newborns/ infants received expressed breastmilk from own mothers using LMU facility in 4 LMUs in Delhi at BSAH, CNBC, SDNH and LNH. Also, 10647 mothers received Lactation Counselling; 1454 mothers used LMU facility for Expression of breastmilk; 371.99 litres of expressed breastmilk (EBM) was collected and 1183 newborns/ infants received expressed breastmilk from own mothers using LMU facility at 5 LMUs in Delhi at BSAH, CNBC, SDNH, LNH and BMH in Q-1 F.Y. 2025-26.
  3. Mother Absolute Affection Programme (MAA): Breastfeeding is an important child survival intervention. Breastfeeding within an hour of birth could prevent 20% of new-born deaths. Infants who are not breastfed are 15 times more likely to die from pneumonia and 11 times more likely to die from diarrhoea than children who are exclusively breastfed, which are two leading causes of death in children under-five years of age. MAA Program focuses on awareness to improve the breastfeeding indicators. Total of 567077 mothers (including 263242 pregnant women and 309438 lactating mothers) participated in 65336 mothers’ meetings conducted in the community by ASHAs in F.Y. 2024-25. (Source: Annual MAA report 2024-25). Early initiation of breastfeeding (within an hour of birth) rate is 80% in F.Y. 2024-25. (Source: HMIS Portal).
  1. Under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Kayakram (RBSK):
  1. Comprehensive Newborn Screening (CNS) undertaken in Delhi as Neonatal Early Evaluation Vision (NEEV) Project, currently being run in project mode at MAMC & Lok Nayak Hospital, carried out in 56 Hospitals/ delivery points.
  2. District Early Intervention Centers (DEICs): operational in medical college/ district hospitals. Currently there are 03 functional EICs in Delhi viz. one COE-EIC at Lok Nayak Hospital & MAMC and 02 more DEICs at Swami Dayanand Hospital and Guru Gobind Singh Govt. Hospital, for management of children with 4Ds (Defects, Deficiencies, Diseases, Developmental Delays & Disabilities) under RBSK initiative of MoHFW, GOI. 26519 children with problems under 4Ds were managed in F.Y. 2024-25 in these EICs.  Centre of Excellence- Early Intervention Centre at Lok Nayak Hospital (COE-EIC LNH) became operational in Delhi w.e.f. October 2021. 14153 children were managed in F.Y. 2024-25 and 3850 children were managed from April to June 2025 in COE-EIC-LNH. 2 more DEICs at Swami Dayanand Hospital and GGSGH are functional. (Source: DEIC reports of Delhi).  One more DEIC at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalya is expected to be functional in F.Y. 2025-26.
  1. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRCs): are facility-based management centers for sick under-5 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). There are 5 functional NRCs in Delhi hospitals viz. Kalawati Saran Children Hospital, Hindu Rao Hospital, Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital & CNBC Hospital. Total sick SAM child admissions were 1363; discharged with target weight gain- 1083 i.e. 80% successful discharge rate. Bed occupancy rate achieved was 79% in 5 NRCs functional in Delhi at HRH, KSCH, BMH, LNH & CNBC during F.Y. 2024-25. (Source: Annual NRC report F.Y. 2024-25 of Delhi). Total sick SAM child admissions- 422; discharged with target weight gain- 322 i.e. 77% successful discharge rate. Bed occupancy rate achieved is 82% 5 NRCs functional in Delhi at HRH, KSCH, BMH, LNH & CNBC. (Source: Q-1 (April-June 2025) NRC report 2025-26 of Delhi).
  1. Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram- JSSK (Infant): JSSK scheme covers all newborns and infants up to 1 year of age for drugs, diagnostics and consumables to take care of out-of-pocket expenditure in the delivery points/ hospitals.
  1. MusQan Certification: is Quality Assurance and Certification initiative of MoHFW, GoI, for Paediatric services in health facilities like Medical College/ District/Sub district hospitals (NRCs, SNCUs, Paediatric OPD/ IPD etc.) There are 8 National MusQan Certified hospitals in Delhi viz. Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital, Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Guru Gobind Singh Govt. Hospital, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalya, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital as on 18/08/2025 in F.Y. 2025-26. There are 5 State MusQan Certified hospitals viz. Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital and Swami Dayanand Hospital as on 18/08/2025 in F.Y. 2025-26. (Source: DSHM website).
  1.  Interventions at community level:
  1. Home Based Newborn Care: Home Based Newborn Care through ASHAs in the community is being implemented for all newborns in priority areas, ASHA visits all newborns and their mothers according to specified schedule up to 42 days of life along with provision for extra care to all newborns discharged after treatment of sickness from Special Newborn Care Units (SCNU) and those who are born as preterm (PT) or low birth weight babies (LBW) is being ensured through structured home visits follow up by ASHA till 1 year of life. Total no. of newborns who received all scheduled home visits by ASHA under HBNC was 177766 out of 208822 no. of live births in ASHA catchment area i.e. 85.12% coverage of HBNC in F.Y. 2024-25. (Source: ASHA Resource Center (ARC), DSHM report).
  2. Home Based Young Care: is a public health initiative designed to promote the health, nutrition, and early childhood development of children aged 3-15 months. Home visits undertaken by ASHAs on 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th and 15th months to promote early initiation of breast feeding, exclusive breast feeding till 6 months and continued breast feeding till 2nd year of life along with adequate complementary feeding, to ensure age-appropriate immunization and early childhood development is being implemented. 177117 no. of young children upto 15 months were visited by ASHAs under HBYC against 803837 target children i.e. 22.5% coverage of HBYC in F.Y. 2024-25. (Source: ASHA Resource Center (ARC), DSHM report).
  1.  Various campaigns mandated by MoHFW, GoI, to create awareness among the community and masses which would help in minimizing the cases and deaths due to preventable childhood illnesses are celebrated and implemented. Stop Diarrhoea Campaign (SDC is rebranded IDCF) & SAANS (Social awareness and actions to neutralize successfully) campaigns support the ongoing efforts to achieve a minimum level of neonatal, Infant and Under 5 Mortality occurring due to preventable diseases.

 

 a) Stop Diarrhoea Campaign 2024 (SDC-2024) (previously named as IDCF –Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight Campaign) is an intensified effort of MoHFW to address the issue of childhood diarrhoea. It is a campaign activity to address potentially high incidence of diarrhoea during the summer/monsoon season and floods / natural calamity. SDC 2024 was successfully conducted from 1st July to 31st August 2024. Out of 1207558 under-5 children, 1207974 i.e 99.4% were provided with prepositioning of ORS.  35309 children reported with diarrhea during the campaign and were provided with ORS and Zinc for 14 days. (Source: Stop Diarrhoea Campaign 2024 campaign report). In F.Y. 2025-26 the campaign was implemented from 16th June to 31st July 2025. The report is being compiled.

b) Social Awareness and Action to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) campaign:  focuses on raising awareness about pneumonia, promoting early detection and treatment, and strengthening preventative measures like vaccination. 80925 under five children with Pneumonia were treated in OPDs and 5261 under five children with Severe Pneumonia were treated by admission during the four-month long SAANS campaign in F.Y. 2024-25. 524157 houses were visited by ASHAs during the campaign where counselling was done using MCP cards regarding identification of signs and symptoms of childhood Pneumonia. (Source: SAANS 2024-25 campaign report).

9) Child Death Review (CDR) is a systematic process of reviewing the deaths of children (typically from birth to five years old) to understand the causes, identify gaps in health services, and pinpoint social factors contributing to these deaths, is being done periodically in the Districts of Delhi. MPCDSR Portal entries have been initiated in all 11 Districts.

10) Capacity Building: Facilitating IYCF, NSSK, FBNC, CDR, SAM & IMNCI/ F-IMNCI training for enhancing skills of Health personnel.

 

Project/ physical targets, proposed to be implemented in FY 2025-26:

 

1. Establishment of 1 new DEIC at CNBC approved in ROP 2025-26.

2. Establishment of 5 more LMUs approved in ROP 2025-26.

3. Establishment of 1 NRC at IGH.

New policy initiatives/ Reforms measure undertaken to improve quality: (Best Practices undertaken by the Department):

  1. Neonatal Ambulance under CATS for safe transport of sick newborns: Provision of 11 Neonatal ambulances under CATS services has been initiated and made available since October 2024 for safe transport of sick newborns in Delhi, following the efforts undertaken by DFW in collaboration with CATS ambulance.
  2. SOPs for management of children with SAM: Implementation and dissemination of SOPs developed for management of children with SAM in Admission & Non-admission facilities. Copy of Revised SOPs is available on DSHM website.

Other previous achievements:

Delhi has received appreciation awards from MOHFW, GoI for 1) “Ensuring Nutrition in Under-5 children” in November 2023 and 2) “Identification and Management of Birth Defects under RBSK (2019-23)” in March 2024.

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