Abstract
For negating the impact of early adversities on the development and ensuring a healthy, dynamic future for all children, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2013 launched a programme for child health screening and early intervention services as Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) which aims to improve the quality of life with special focus on improving cognition and survival outcomes for “at risk” children. It has a systemic approach of prevention, early identification and management of 30 health conditions distributed under 4Ds: Defects at birth, Diseases, Deficiencies and Developmental delays including Disabilities spread over birth to 18 y of age in a holistic manner. There is a dedicated 4 member Mobile Health team for community screening and a dedicated 14 member team at District Early Intervention Center (DEIC) for comprehensive management. Existing health infrastructure and personnel are also integrated and utilized in this endeavor. Defects at birth are screened at Delivery points, home visits by accredited social health activist (ASHA), Anganwadi centers and at schools. Developmental delays are evaluated at DEIC through a multidisciplinary team with interdisciplinary approach. Five thousand four hundred eighteen dedicated Mobile Health teams have screened a total of 12.19 crore children till Dec.14. From April to Dec. 2014, 4.20 crore children were screened, of which birth to 6-y-old children were 2.13 crore while 2.07 crore were from 6 to 18 y. 17.7 lakh children were referred to tertiary centers and 6.2 lakh availed tertiary care. 50.7 lakhs were found positive for 4Ds; 1.35 lakhs were birth defects. RBSK is a step towards universal health care for free assured services.
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Acknowledgments
Ms Anuradha Gupta (IAS), Mr Manoj Jhalani (JS-Policy), Ms Unni Silkoset (RNE), Dr P.K. Prabhakar (DC-Child Health), Dr Renu Srivastava, Ms Alka Narang-UNDP, Mr Sushil Chaudhary-UNDP, Dr Kaliprasad Pappu, Dr Harish Kumar (NIPI), Dr Ashfaq Ahmad Bhat (RNE), National RBSK Team members (Dr S. S Das, Ms Indhu, Mr Premjith, Dr Deepti Khanna, Mr Asis Ghosh, Dr Meeta Mahar, Dr Anuradha Jain, Mr G.L. Verma, Mr Brij Bhandari).
Contributions
AKS: Contributed significantly to the primary conception and design of RBSK, in writing this document and revising the manuscript; RK: Contributed in conceptualizing and improving the design of RBSK, especially for defects at birth and developmental delays and in modalities of implementation and execution of RBSK, and revising the manuscript for intellectual content; AK: Analysis and interpretation of data, apart from helping in designing the RBSK and reviewing the article; CKM: Guided in execution of RBSK across the country and reviewing the article; AS: Participated in writing, drafting and reviewing the article and in designing RBSK. AKS will act as guarantor for this paper.
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None.
Source of Funding
No private funding. This program is being funded under National Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, Govt. of India and implemented through various state governments of India.
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Singh, A.K., Kumar, R., Mishra, C.K. et al. Moving from Survival to Healthy Survival through Child Health Screening and Early Intervention Services Under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK). Indian J Pediatr 82, 1012–1018 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1823-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1823-2