Study:India has highest Number of Diarrhoeal Deaths

The GEMS (Global Enteric Multicentre Study) showed that diarrhoeal disease has the highest rate of incidence in India in comparison to other sites. Diarrhoea is responsible for one in every ten child deaths during the first five years of life globally.

The other sites included Bangladesh and Pakistan in Asia and Mali, Kenya, Gambia and Mozambique in Africa. Each site was provided by field workers who visited each household to record births, deaths and migrations two to four times every year they also got weekly updates of births and deaths in children 0-59 months.

A study on the causes of severe diarrhoea in young children was conducted at seven sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian countries including India. It found that rotavirus is responsible for most such cases.   

According to WHO (World Health Organisation) estimates, between 90000 and 153000 children die from rotavirus infection in India each annually. According to the WHO, more than 2.3 million children below five years of age die in India each year. Of these, about 334000 die from diarrhoea-related diseases are responsible for 334000 deaths.