Action Plan Against Diarrhoea and Pneumonia

New Delhi, Feb 25, 2015: As per the report of Child Health Epidemiological Reference Group 2012, it is estimated that 38 per cent of all under-five child deaths are caused by diarrhoea and pneumonia which accounts for around 2 lakh under-five deaths due to diarrhoea and over 3.8 lakh due to Pneumonia annually. As per the Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report, 2014 of the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC), India tops the list of 15 countries in terms of total burden of under-five deaths due to pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Under National Health Mission, the Government of India has launched Integrated Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (IAPPD) in 2014 to address the gaps and undertake collaborative efforts towards prevention of diarrhoea and Pneumonia related under-five deaths. IAPPD strengthens the existing approaches towards prevention of diarrhoea and pneumonia to achieve higher coverage of these interventions such as appropriate infant and young child feeding, provision of safe drinking water and improved sanitation, Vitamin A supplementation, measles vaccination, Hib vaccination, hand washing and personal hygiene, provision of ORS, zinc, appropriate antibiotics, availability of oxygen in health facilities, improved case management at community and health facilities, reduction of household pollution, etc.

Currently, IAPPD has been prioritised in four States namely- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where state and regional level workshops are being held for in-depth planning and review as per the IAPPD framework.CCI Newswire