Child deaths recur in tribal village in Kerala

The Attappadi tribal village of Palakkad district in central Kerala is again in the news for infant mortality, with five newborns dying during the last ten days.

Child deaths of Attappadi had received national attention in 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a comparison of Kerala with Somalia by referring to the infant mortality in the tribal areas while addressing an election campaign meeting in the state.

Child deaths were more severe in the Attappadi region earlier as over 50 infant deaths were reported in 2013. As a result of the steps taken by the government, the numbers were brought down to around 15 in the years that followed. Around ten infant deaths were reported this year so far.

Read | Why infant mortality rate matters

Malnutrition and lack of adequate health infrastructure were said to be the key reasons for infant deaths recurring in the tribal village, spread over 735 square kilometres.

With five infant deaths being reported in ten days, the Left Front government is in a tight spot. Apart from ordering a probe into the deaths, an action plan to address the basic issues have been initiated with SC and ST Welfare Minister K Radhakrishnan rushing to the spot. The opposition Congress has held the government responsible for the deaths, alleging lapses in implementation of malnutrition programmes by the state government.

MLA of the region N Samsudheen said that lapses in the coordination among various government agencies was the reason for infant deaths recurring in the region. Compared to the previous years, Attappadi taluk now has adequate health facilities and there are adequate programmes to ensure the well being of children and pregnant women. But the effective functioning of these systems was not being ensured by the government, said the MLA for the opposition Indian Union Muslim League.

There were allegations that the 'Janani Janamaraksha' programme for providing funds to pregnant women for taking nutritious food was remaining defunct for quite some time owing to paucity of funds.

Meanwhile, a health department official of the region said that one key issue was the reluctance of the people in taking timely medical attention and following instructions of the doctors for taking advanced treatment. This could be addressed only through awareness campaigns and grassroots level interventions.

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