NATIONAL HEALTH OBJECTIVES
Large population, poverty, illiteracy and inadequate sanitation have been identified as key factors for poor population health and inadequate health infrastructure in developing countries, including India.
Consequently, many novel strategies have been designed and implemented since independence to overcome these barriers and uplift general health status of Indian population, with special emphasis on high- risk groups, e.g. woman and children. Some important national objectives and targets related to population
Source: SRS report 2022 (Ref 2020 data), * NFHS- 2021 (Ref 2019-21 data)
health in general and children's health in particular, are as follows:
Sustainable development goals (SDGs): Encouraged by the major achievements under millenium development goals (MDG), UN has proposed 17 SDGs for further international development to be achieved by the year 2030. Of these, Goal # 3, i.e. to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, includes three important targets directly related to mother and child health, as follows:
• To reduce the global maternal mortality ratio lt; 70/ Lac live births.
• To end preventable deaths of newborns and under-5 children, with Neonatal mortality rate lt;12/1000 live births and Under-5 Mortality lt; 25/1000 live births.
• To end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and to combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
National Health Policy (2017) following the previous policies of 1983 and 2002, aims to achieve universal health coverage and delivering quality health care services to all at affordable costs with following objectives:
• Improving the general life expectancy with healthy life and sustain healthy life
• Reduce the mortality, specially in newborns, infants and under-five children
• Reduce the prevalence / incidence of selected diseases
• Improve coverage, finances and performance of health System
• Strengthen health infrastructure and information/ management system.
Certain specific health goals and targets have been established under this policy, to be achieved in timebound manner, some of whom are related to child health as enlisted in Table 28.2.
28.2