Focusing on Operational Research: A Welcome Step!

Abstract

ver the last decade, India has made substantial progress in child health, particularly in terms of improvement of health services during pregnancy and delivery, widespread provision of facility based neonatal care, and better treatment of common childhood diseases -leading to a reduction in infant mortality rate (IMR) by almost 40% and under 5 mortality rate by 45% [1]. However, there is still much work to be done as regional and socioeconomic inequalities still exist, preventable conditions such as neonatal asphyxia, neonatal sepsis, pneumonia and diarrhea are still the most common causes of under 5 deaths [2], and malnutrition is the major risk factor underlying these deaths [3]. Moreover, with better survival, we must now focus on quality and productivity of life.