NITI Aayog member V K Paul on Friday said the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) is a guarantee for child health as he launched the National Birth Defect Awareness Month 2024.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Paul while commending the RBSK said, “A total of 160 crore children have been examined under the programme. It is a guarantee for child health.”

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He appreciated the work of Mobile Health teams and District Early Interventions teams for ensuring child health and reaching to the hinterlands for successful implementation of RBSK.

Dr Paul said that there is a need to address the birth defects to lower the child mortality, though the ratio of birth defects’ mortality is less compared to deaths caused by malaria, pneumonia and other diseases.

“Under the RBSK our priority is to achieve complete health for children and this National Birth Defect Awareness Month 2024 campaign would be a catalyst in raising the awareness for the cause. More Intensity and more coverage needs to be done to redress the issue of birth defects,” he added.

Dr Paul also urged students to opt for Pediatrics in PG to support and strengthen child health as children are most vulnerable to defects detected at birth.

“Even the family feels isolated knowing the issues of birth defects. These will be addressed through this campaign”, he said.

Pre-pregnancy care is significant for a woman, nutritional status, BMI, Thyroid and UTI etc. should also be taken care of as this would help in healthy child birth, he added.

Apurva Chandra, Union Health Secretary, emphasized on early identification of birth defects especially club foot, hearing impairments, retinal defects, cleft lips etc as these impaired child’s future.

Elated with the campaign, he said this month-long awareness campaign will be instrumental in addressing the child birth defects issue.

“Keeping registry of child birth defects through the ABHA can play a significant role in keeping records of children treated or not treated and further actions can be steered accordingly in identification and treatment,” he added.

On this occasion, good performing State and Union Territories for RBSK were felicitated for the achievements.