NEW DELHI: The Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses (IMNCI) strategy to bring down infant and maternal mortality rates would be implemented in a phased manner, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here on Thursday.

The recently launched National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) also seeks to strengthen child healthcare through a variety of measures, as neonatal mortality accounted for two-third of infant mortality. Training healthcare workers, strengthening the health system and ensuring community participation in Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and `anganwadi' schemes would be crucial to the success of the programme, Mr. Ramadoss said while launching the `New Born Week.'

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran released a commemorative postage stamp on `New Born Health in India.'

In India, 5,29,000 women die during childbirth each year and 10.6 million children do not reach their fifth birthday. Mr. Ramadoss said the Prime Minister was concerned about India accounting for a maternal mortality rate of 400 per lakh live births, an infant mortality rate of 60 per thousand live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 40 per thousand live births.

Lack of resources, illiteracy and slackness in the right to claim healthy birth were responsible for such mortality rates. The Government was willing to support non-governmental organisations in their efforts to improve neonatal care, Mr. Ramadoss said.

Mr. Maran said modern communication technology would be used for providing modern healthcare to all. India was committed to the Millennium Development Goals to bring down neonatal mortality rate to 20 per thousand, he said.

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