NEW DELHI, APRIL 26 (PTI): More than a million children under the age of five die in India every year and 57 per cent of the deaths occur within the first 28 days with prematurity and neonatal infections being the major causes, the government said today. “According to Sample Registration System (SRS) 2013, 1.26 million children under the age of five are estimated to die in India every year. “57 per cent of under-five deaths occur in neonatal period, which is within the first 28 days of life, the major causes being prematurity and low birth-weight, neonatal infections, birth asphyxia and birth trauma,” Health Minister J P Nadda said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. He said the major causes of under-five deaths in post-neonatal period are pneumonia and diarrhea.
