India holds national summit on child survival, development

"[M]ore than 200 delegates ranging from policymakers and representatives of development agencies to global health practitioners and civil society members" are gathering in India this week for a national summit on the "Call to Action for Child Survival and Development," IIP Digital reports. The event, "jointly organized by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, UNICEF and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will be an opportunity for participants to share experiences and pledge to meet India's child survival and development goals, USAID said in a February 5 press release," the news service notes (2/6). "The summit is expected to discuss 10 themes related to child survival and development and the topics include newborn health and child survival, interventions for preventing diarrhea, social determinants of child survival, nutrition and others," NYDailyNews.com states.

"It is also expected the summit will be able to arrive at an agreed set of actions and commitments and determine a follow-up mechanism for achieving India's goals for child survival and development," the news service writes, adding, "The ministry of health and family welfare will be launching a strategic roadmap for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCH+A), aimed primarily at reducing deaths of children from preventable causes" (2/5). "India will be in the forefront of the war against child deaths and ensure that no child dies owing to causes that can be prevented, union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said [at the event] Thursday," NYDailyNews.com reports in a separate article (2/7).