Gross malnutrition accounts for more than half of the total child mortality in India, killing young ones before their fifth birthdays, a recent UNICEF study says.

The study carried out by the fund's branches across the country indicates that 55 per cent of the under-5 mortality is associated with child malnutrition, said a UNICEF message on national nutrition week, which began on September 1.

Death rates were found to be high among the low-birth weight babies, it said. In West Bengal alone 37 per cent of the children were born weighing less than the threshold 2.5 kg.

The devastating consequences of malnutrition observed among the surveyed children ranged from early growth retardation leading to a broad range of functional and learning disabilities including delayed motor development, cognitive impairments and decreased IQ levels.

In West Bengal alone about 56.8 per cent of children in the 0-4 years age group were found to be underweight,it said. All of them ran a high risk of infection and death, it added.

Pointing out that malnutrition was imposing a tremendous burden on the national economy, the message said annual national loss in terms of economic productivity was estimated to be close to Rs 1200 billion.

Pregnant women and young children were found to be the most serious sufferers of the adverse effects caused by malnutrition owing to their increased nutritional needs.

Sudha Chandran urges the disabled to vote for their patrons

Noted dancer and actress Sudha Chandran has appealed to the country's 100 million disabled people to vote for genuine patrons of the disabled in the upcoming elections.

Chandran, who had lost a leg in an accident and uses a Jaipur foot, is also the spokesperson of the National Association of Disabled Enterprises (NADE). She said in a statement in Mumabi that since disabled persons constituted almost one tenth of the population, it was time to unite and fight for their rights.

Chandran informedthat NADE has already framed a multi-crore project for the economic rehabilitation of the disabled through sustainable long term opportunities.

The ambitious project Unnati, she said, aims at setting up a national level vocational-cum-management training centre and a first-of-its kind charitable company of the disabled, with area-wise cooperative workshops to provide employment for at least 65,000 disabled persons in the initial phase.

NADE would also provide training, employment and professional support so that the disabled could also contribute to the overall income of the country, Chandran added.

India should catalyse global efforts on HIV vaccine

India should catalyse global efforts to develop a vaccine against human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) by identifying "achievable goals", an expert has said.

To develop a safe and effective vaccine against HIV that causes AIDS, a major international collaborative effort was needed where India could play a "critical role", V Ramlingaswami, formerdirector general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said.

"Mechanisms should be established to foster international collaboration in HIV vaccine research," he said, adding efforts by non-governmental organisations (NGO) like International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) were also needed to develop the vaccine quickly.

Delivering a lecture at the Institite of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) at Chandigarh, a copy of which was received here today, Ramlingaswami said "India's capabilities, which are considerable, should be fully harnessed and further strengthened" to develop the vaccine.

Moreover, the Indian effort should include contributions from industry, universities and research institutes, he said.

Since some estimates show that India would house about ten million AIDS patients in the early part of the next century, a vaccine was urgently needed as it could reduce severity and transmission of the disease, he said.

The strategies being adopted worldwide were pointing towards a DNA vaccinewhich could be supplemented with immunity boosting drugs, he added.