Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday accepted the suggestions and recommendations made by social activist Dr. Abhay Bang to prevent child deaths.
The court has directed the committee that looks into malnutrition to incorporate the recommendations in the report Mortality and Malnutrion in Tribal Children in Maharashtra in its policy decisions, and to file an action taken report by June 15.
A division bench of Justices V.M. Kanade and P.R. Bora was hearing public interest litigations on the increase in malnutrition cases in the State.
Dr. Bang and his wife, Dr. Rani Bang, have been working among the tribal people in Gadchiroli district for the past 30 years.
The report presented the problem in the form of 11 ‘M’s. Mortality in tribal children, malnutrition in tribal children and adolescent girls, maternal health, malaria, mental health, especially alcohol and tobacco overuse, measurement and monitoring of the problem or the lack of it, medical care to tribal people, manpower to provide health care, empowerment to the tribal people, money and management.
One solution the report suggests to reduce the newborn and child mortality is called home-based neonatal and child care, in which a literate woman from the village is trained for 26 days to provide primary care to mother, newborn and children.
