NEW DELHI: India has made significant progress in reducing child deaths over the past three decades, but deaths among newborns are a cause for concern, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation Report 2025 shows, reports Anuja Jaiswal.The country’s under-five mortality rate has declined from 127 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 27 in 2024. Since 2000, the rate has fallen from 92 to 26.6, a decline of about 71%.“India has emerged as a leading global exemplar in reducing child mortality, with neonatal deaths down nearly 70% and under-five mortality falling by 79% since 1990,” Union health minister Jagat Prasad Nadda said in a post on X, attributing the gains to sustained investments in maternal and child health.However, progress in reducing deaths among newborns has been slower. Neonatal mortality has dropped from 43.8 per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 16.7 in 2024, a reduction of about 62%.This gap means that newborns now account for the largest share of child deaths. Of the total under-five mortality rate of 26.6, about 16.7 deaths per 1,000 live births occurred in the first month of life in 2024, indicating that nearly two-thirds of child deaths are concentrated in this period.“Conditions like premature birth, birth asphyxia and infections are major causes, and gaps in care – such as missed high-risk pregnancies, poor monitoring during delivery and lack of trained staff – further increase the risk. Improving the quality of care during pregnancy, childbirth and the first few days after birth is critical to saving more lives,” said Dr Arvind Kumar, principal director and head of paediatrics, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.In absolute terms, India records around 5.4 lakh under-five deaths annually, of which newborns account for nearly 3.9 lakh. Deaths among older children have declined more rapidly due to improvements in immunisation, nutrition and disease management.“In newborns, prematurity, birth asphyxia and sepsis are the leading factors, while in older children, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malnutrition are more common. Most of these deaths are preventable with proper antenatal care, early breastfeeding, good nutrition and timely immunisation,” said Dr Varun Vij, senior consultant, paediatrics and neonatology, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.The data shows under-five mortality declined at an average rate of about 3.6% per year between 1990 and 2024, with faster reductions after 2000.
