New Delhi

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda launched the 'Stop Diarrhoea Campaign 2024' at an event in Delhi on Monday.

While addressing the event, the Union Minister said that the duration of the campaign will be two months.

"This is the first program that we are launching after coming to power. In 2014 we started 'Mission Indradhanush' and in 2024 we are scaling up the duration of the campaign from a fortnight to two months," Nadda said.

"In 2014, the mortality rate was 45 per 1000 live births which has been reduced to 32 per 1000 live births," he added.

According to a Health Ministry release, this year Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has renamed Diarrhoea Campaign as 'STOP Diarrhoea Campaign', in continuation of the efforts of Diarrhoea Management till 2023.

STOP Diarrhoea Campaign consists of a set of activities to be implemented in an intensified manner during campaign period for prevention and control of deaths due to dehydration from diarrhoea across all States/UTs. These activities mainly include - intensification of advocacy & awareness generation activities for diarrhoea management utilising inter-convergence of various departments, strengthening service provision for diarrhoea case management, establishment of ORS-Zinc corners, prepositioning of ORS and Zinc by ASHA in households with under-five children, awareness generation activities for hygiene and sanitation, the release mentioned.

The release also stated that reduction of childhood mortality to 23 per 1,000 live births by 2025 is one of the prime goals of National Health Policy as childhood diarrhoeal diseases continue to be a major killer among under-five children in many states, contributing to 5.8 per cent of under five deaths in the country (Cause of Death Statistics 2017-19, Sample Registration System of Registrar General of India).

Around 50,000 children die due to diarrhoea annually in the country. Diarrhoeal deaths are usually clustered in summer and monsoon months and the worst affected are children from poor socio-economic situations, it added.