India, Most Dangerous Place For Girl Child

Bangalore: India is the most dangerous place in the world for a baby girl. As per the newly released data of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75 percent more likely to die than an Indian boy child, making it the worst gender differential in child mortality for any country in the world.

As per the data, infant (0-1 years) and child (1-5 years) mortality is declining in India and across the globe, although not at a fast pace as was hoped in India. At the same time, the rest of the world is experiencing a faster fall in female infant and child mortality in comparison to male child mortality. This is on account of well established biological factors which make girls better survivors of early infancy given equal access to resources. But, sadly world's two most populous countries, China and India resist this trend.

The survey conducted in 150 countries over 40 years shows that India and China are the only two countries in the world where female infant mortality is higher than male infant mortality in the 2000s. While India shows better infant mortality sex ratio than China with 97 male infant deaths for every 100 female. China shows 76 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths. The number is 122 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths in the developing world as a whole. In the neighboring countries like Sri Lanka the number is 125 and 120 in Pakistan.

The child mortality sex ratio in India is however the world's worst. In the 2000s, there were 56 male child deaths for every 100 female, in comparison with 111 in the developing world. This ratio has gone worse since the 1970s in India, where as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Iraq have improved.

The UN report clearly suggests that high girl child mortality is explained by socio-cultural values. It is noted that higher mortality among girls should be seen as "a powerful warning that differential treatment or access to resources is putting girls at a disadvantage", the report suggested.

P Arokiasamy, professor of development studies at Mumbai's International Institute for Population Studies who has studied gender differentials in child mortality in India says "Higher female mortality from age 1 onwards clearly indicated sustained discrimination,” reported TOI. "Such neglect and discrimination can be in three areas: food and nutrition, healthcare and emotional wellbeing. Of these, neglect of the healthcare of the girl child is the most direct determinant of mortality," he added. Studies have revealed that health-related neglect may involve waiting longer before taking a sick girl child to a doctor than a sick boy child, and it is also indicated in lower rates of immunization for girls than boys.

Also, since the rage over India's poor child sex ratio came out of census data for children aged 0-6 years, it is to be noted that campaign against female foeticide alone is not a complete solution."Pre-natal and post-natal discrimination are complementarily contributing to gender imbalance," said Arokiasamy. He also added that even as pre-natal discrimination in the form of sex-selective abortions is more common among better educated upper income households, post-natal discrimination or neglect is more common among poorer, less educated rural households.

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