Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]news-alerts-57/lesser-proportion-of-infants-children-dying-says-census-office-4678565.html"/> NEWS ALERTS | Lesser proportion of infants & children dying, says Census office | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Lesser proportion of infants & children dying, says Census office
 
It brings unbearable agony and distress to parents, when a new born child or a young one dies in the family. Fortunately, the latest available data shows that the proportion of infant deaths (less than 1 year of age) in total deaths has fallen between 2004-06 and 2010-13.

A similar declining trend could be observed in the proportion of under-5 deaths (less than 5 years of age). The leading causes of death in children aged 0-4 years includes prematurity & low birth weight, pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases, other communicable diseases and birth asphyxia & birth trauma, among others.

The latest available data on causes of death has been provided by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, and is based on the deaths covered under Sample Registration System (SRS) during 2010-13. In the SRS, method of Verbal Autopsy (VA) has been used to determine the underlying causes of death.

From the latest available data, it is revealed that the proportion of infant deaths (less than 1 year age) in total deaths has come down from 14.9 percent during 2004-06 to 10.3 percent during 2010-13. The proportion of under-5 deaths (less than 5 years of age) in total deaths has declined from 19.4 percent to 12.5 percent during the same time span. Also, the proportion of deaths in children aged 5-14 years has reduced considerably from 3.3 percent to 1.9 percent. Please check the table-1 for more information.

Table 1: Distribution of deaths by age (in %) between 2004-06 & 2010-13
 
 2004-06 2010-13
Less than 1 year
 14.9 10.3
Less than 5 years
 19.4 12.5
5-14 years
 3.3 1.9
15-29 years
 6.8 6.6
30-69 years
 39.6 43.4
70 years & above
 31.0 35.7
 
Source: Presentation on Causes of Death in India 2010-2013, please click here to access
 
The report from the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner also draws our attention to the rising proportion of deaths among age-groups 30-69 years and 70 years and above between 2004-06 and 2010-13.

Table 2: Top 10 causes of death (%) by age-groups during 2010-13
 
Table 2 

Source: Presentation on Causes of Death in India 2010-2013, please click here to access

Based on Verbal Autopsy (VA) reports of nearly 1.83 lakh deaths during the period 2010-13, it is shown that the proportion of deaths due to non-communicable diseases has risen from 42.4 percent in 2001-03 to 45.4 percent in 2004-06, and further to 49.2 percent in 2010-13.

Overall cardiovascular diseases has remained the most dominant cause of death among Indians, and caused 23.3 percent of deaths during 2010-13 as compared to 19.9 percent during 2004-06. Please check the table-2 on top ten causes of death by age-groups.
 
It is worth mentioning that the Office of Registrar General, India devised a new initiative to provide reliable, representative and relevant information of causes of death due to diseases, injuries and risk factors at national/sub-national level. It is done so by the office of Census because such information based on Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) data is restricted largely to deaths in urban areas that occurred in hospitals and other institutions providing medical facilities. The overall coverage of MCCD is quite low and about 20 percent of the total registered deaths are medically certified deaths. As informed to us earlier, the SRS uses Verbal Autopsy (VA) tools to detect causes of death.

The key findings of the report on causes of death during 2010-13 are as follows:

• The proportion of infant deaths in total deaths has declined between 2004-06 and 2010-13.

• The proportion of under-5 deaths has reduced considerably from 19.4 percent in 2004-06 to 12.5 percent in 2010-13.

• The proportion of deaths in children aged 5-14 years has reduced considerably to 1.9 percent in 2010-13 from 3.3 percent in 2004-06.

• The proportion of death in the age group 15-29 years has remained almost the same (6.6 percent in 2010-13 from 6.8 percent in 2004-06).

• The proportion of deaths in the age-group 30-69 years has increased from 39.6 percent in 2004-06 to 43.4 percent in 2010-13.

• The proportion of deaths in the age-group 70 years and above has increased from 31.0 percent in 2004-06 to 35.7 percent in 2010-13.

• A higher proportion of deaths are reported in the age upto 14 years in rural areas as compared to urban areas.

• Communicable, maternal, perinatal & nutritional conditions cause higher proportion of deaths in female than male (30.4 percent against 25.7 percent) during 2010-13.

• Injuries cause more deaths in male as compared to female (12.4 percent against 8.4 percent) during 2010-13.

• Communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions cause more death in rural areas than in urban areas. Maternal conditions causes only 0.9 percent of the total female deaths.

• The top ten causes of death during 2010-13 and 2004-06 have remained the same. They are: cardiovascular diseases; symptoms, signs & ill-defined conditions (including senility); respiratory diseases; malignant and other neoplasms; perinatal conditions; diarrhoeal diseases; digestive diseases; unintentional injuries (other than motor vehicle accidents); respiratory infections; and tuberculosis.

• A higher proportion of deaths in urban areas is caused by cardiovascular diseases as compared to that in rural areas during 2010-13.

• Prematurity and low birth weight account for almost half of the neonatal deaths and its share in death has increased from 37.4 percent to 48.1 percent between 2004-06 and 2010-13.

• Pneumonia accounts for about 17 percent deaths among infants (less than 1 year old) during 2010-13.

• The top 3 causes namely pneumonia, diarrhoeal disease and injuries are responsible for more than 50 percent deaths in the age-group 1-4 years during 2010-13.

• Unintentional injuries (other than motor vehicle accidents) account for more than 20 percent of the deaths in the age-group 5-14 years during 2010-13.

• Unintentional injuries (other than motor vehicle accidents) account for higher deaths in male (23.7 percent) than female (16.8%) during 2010-13.

• Intentional injuries (suicide) is the most frequent cause of death (18 percent) in the age-group 15-29 years during 2010-13.

• Suicide causes the highest proportion of female deaths (21.8 percent) whereas motor vehicle accidents causes the highest proportion of male deaths (21.9 percent) in the age-group 15-29 years during 2010-13.

• More than 40 percent death in the age-group 15-29 years is caused by injuries.

• Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in the age-group 30-69 years (almost one-third) during 2010-13.

• Every tenth death is caused by malignant and other neoplasm among persons aged 30-69 years.

• Tuberculosis is one of the major causes which accounts for more deaths in men than female for the age-group 30-69 years.

• Symptoms, signs & ill-defined conditions (including senility) is the major cause of death in the age-group 70 years & above during 2010-13.

• Every fourth death in the age-group 70 years & above is due to cardiovascular diseases.


References:

Presentation on Causes of Death in India 2010-2013, please click here to access
 
Presentation on Causes of Death in India 2004-2006, please click here to access
 
Causes of Death for 2004-06 and 2010-13, please click here to access
 
Causes of Death in India 2010-2013, please click here to access
 
Causes of Death in India 2004-2006, please click here to access
 
Sample Registration System, please click here to access
 
Report on Medical Certification of Cause of Death 2013, please click here to access

In India, cause of 80% deaths goes unrecorded -Abhishek Waghmare, IndiaSpend.com, 10 February, 2016, please click here to access

Image Courtesy: UNDP India