India has one of the highest rates of infant mortality and morbidity around the world. If the current situation prevails then as a country we would be raising a generation which is debilitated and unable to contribute effectively to the productivity of the country Even though over the last decade there has been some reduction in the under five mortality rates yet, many children continue to die before reaching the age of five years. Sharp geographical differences in nature and extent of the childhood morbidity and mortality exist which highlights the need for area specific strategies and intervention. The burden of morbidities appears particularly high among rural and indigenous tribal populations. Given the vast and diverse geographic purview of our country, interstate differences in the morbidity and mortality pattern are also visible. Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Chhattisgarh are states having U5MR higher than the national average. Among the scheduled tribes of India, mortality, morbidity and malnutrition rates remain particularly high when compared to the population at large. Most tribal children tend to show equivalent patterns of development at birth followed by significant disparities in the first few years itself. Under nutrition, lack of medical facilities, disadvantaged environmental factors such as poor sanitation, overcrowded housing, poverty coupled with socio cultural factors such as early motherhood, anemia among adolescent girls, are the major contributing factors for high incidence of morbidity and mortality among the Indian children. There is an urgent need to reduce the sickness load of our children. Strategies for morbidity and mortality reduction should be based on understanding the unique dynamics under which these exist, and should address the issue of disparity.
