'India contributes 21 pc of global child deaths'

New Delhi, Dec 8 : As per the Progress for Children Report, 'A Statistical Review' December 2007, India contributes 21 pc of the global burden of child deaths, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Rajya Sabha on Tueday.

'Under Five Mortality rate is 72 per 1000 live births in India. As per the State of the World's Children UNICEF Report, 2009 India ranks as 49th out of 191 countries in the descending order of the Under Five Mortality Rate,' Azad said.

The Reproductive and Child Health programme (RCH) II under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), comprehensively integrates interventions that improve child health and addresses factors contributing to morbidity and mortality, he added.