Abstract: Background: Children are the backbone of future nation. Among the causes for under-5 mortality and infant mortality if we exclude neonatal mortality, then diarrhoeal diseases form the second most leading cause of both infant & under- 5 mortality following pneumonia in developing countries. In India, during 2014, about 11.6 million cases with 1,323 deaths were reported in India. In Karnataka about 18-20% of under-5 deaths occur due to diarrhea. This is both preventable and treatable.
Methods: This is an evaluation of data available from various sources like SRS, UNICEF data, DLHS and HMIS reports. The indicators which were studied are Impact indicators, Diarrhoeal prevention indicators and Diarrhoeal treatment indicators.
Results: The Infant Mortality Rate observed over the years shows a declining trend. Most of the indicators like improvement in the drinking water sources, measles vaccination and population utilizing ORS treatment show an increase. It is seen that the Exclusive breastfeeding shows a decreased coverage. There is no marked increase in treatment seeking for diarrhoeal diseases. Awareness of diarrhoea is decreased from 88.4 to 74.6%. Zinc use also can be scaled up as its coverage was <50%.
Conclusion: The interventions for diarrhoeal control, both treatment and preventive are effectively done at the level of home, community and as an outreach., There is a rational mix of community & facility based measures. Lack of awareness perpetuates the need to develop more effective ways for creating awareness.
