The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar launched the Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF) - 2022 in the presence of Dr. Sapam Ranjan Singh, Health Minister of Manipur.

The IDCF programme is being implemented from 13th June to 27th June, 2022 in the states/UTs and the goal is to attain zero child deaths due to childhood diarrhoea.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar said, “As a result of the commendable efforts of the Government of India led by Prime Minister, according to the latest report of SRS-2019, the child mortality rate in the country has come down considerably since 2014. This rate has come down from 45 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 35 per 1,000 live births in 2019. But even today, diseases related to diarrhoea continue to be a major cause of death in children under the age of five.” 

Dr. Pawar commented, “Dehydration is the biggest cause of diarrhoea in children and other reasons include a change in the baby's diet to make up for a change in the mother's diet when breastfeeding; Use of antibiotics by the baby, or use by the mother while breastfeeding, or any type of bacterial or parasitic infection.”

Signifying the importance of prevention and mitigation methods, Dr. Pawar said, “According to the latest survey (NFHS-5) conducted by the ministry, only 60.6% children under the age of five with diarrhoea were given ORS and only 30.5% were given zinc. This means that there is a lack of awareness among mothers.”

She stressed on more awareness campaigns so that the rate of child mortality due to diarrhoea can be brought down to the minimum level.

IDCF consists of a set of activities to be implemented in an intensified manner for prevention and control of deaths due to dehydration from diarrhoea across all states and UTs. These activities mainly include intensification of advocacy and awareness generation activities for diarrhoea management, strengthening service provision for diarrhoea case management, establishment of ORS-Zinc corners, prepositioning of ORS by ASHA in households with under-five children and awareness generation activities for hygiene and sanitation.

One of the main activities under the IDCF program has been the activities by field workers including ASHA, ANM and anganwadi workers. Field workers visit the homes of families with children below five years of age and provide counselling in case of diarrhoea for distribution of zinc and ORS sachets. They also promote sanitation practices, breastfeeding practices and advise on preparation methods of ORS through group meetings among mothers.