UK gives Rs 2000 cr health aid to check death of Indian children

New Delhi, June 13 (UNI) Britian's Minister for International Development Gareth Thomas today announced Rs 2,000 crore aid for India to reduce the number of Indian children who die before their fifth birthday..

The aid will benefit millions of od Indian children who live on less than a dollar a day.

The funds will also be used to ensure that when mothers give birth, a doctor or nurse is available to provide medical back up, giving them and their babies a much better chance of survival.

Groups with a high risk of contracting AIDS such as commercial sex workers and injecting drugs users will benefit from funds for expanding education programmes that teach them how to protect themselves.

Funds will also help to improve healthcare for other socially excluded groups such as dalits, indigenous people and minorities, including Muslims.

''India has gained a reputation as a major economic superpower.

But we should not forget that one in three Indians survive on less than 50 pence a day. Only one in four children from India's poorest families are immunised against killer diseases compared to three in four from the richest,'' Mr Thomas said.

Most of the funding will go directly to Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, he added.

Orissa is one of the poorest states in India with 40 per cent of the population living below the poverty line (BPL). Children from sceduled castes (SCs) and sceduled tribes (STs), which together make up more than one in three of the state's population, are 25 per cent more likely to die before their fifth birthday than those from other groups in the state.

In Madhya Pradesh where 37 per cent of the population lives BPL, deprivation is again highest among SCs and STs. Nearly 14 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday, compared to a national average of 10 per cent. Sixty per cent (three in five) of children are under three years are underweight compared to 46 per cent for India overall.

The announcement comes as the Department for International Development (DFID) launched a public debate on how UK aid for India could be better spent.

Britain's aid budget for India is set to rise to 300 million pounds for 2008-09 and designed to improve healthcare, get more children into primary school and reduce poverty in the country, according to a British High Commission release.

UNI