Almost 2 million Indian children under 5 die annually

By Nita Bhalla | 2 hour(s) ago | Comments ( 0 )

More than 1.74 million children in India die every year before they reach their fifth birthday, the government was quoted as saying by the Indian Express on Wednesday.

"As per SRS (Sample Registration System) data 2009, 17.4 lakh children are estimated to die before the age of five years,” Sudip Bandyopadhay, minister of state for health, said in a written reply in parliament. (1 lakh equals 100,000)

About 55 percent of the deaths were neonatal or deaths in the first 28 days of life, he said, adding that deaths due to pneumonia and diarrhoea accounted for 11 percent of the total.