Care Beyond Newborn Survival Including Child Health and Early Childhood Development; Mental and Psychological Health

Abstract

Last couple of decades have witnessed a substantial decline in child mortality. Now, the need of the hour is to ensure the quality survival of children beyond infancy. Adverse events in the first few years of life have a long-lasting effect on child's development, behavior and personality; and effective interventions during this time have maximum impact to prevent these consequences. Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development (NC-ECD) is a concept adapted worldwide by health agencies to improve the level of optimum care to children in the first 1000 days as promotion of Early Childhood Development (ECD) is integral for overall social and financial progress of the country and its population. The five components of NC-ECD include good health, adequate nutrition, responsive caregiving, safety and security, and opportunities for early learning. This five-pillar approach emphasizes upon providing quality care by catering to needs like responsive caregiving, safe and secure environment and better learning opportunities apart from health and nutrition, which are already addressed by various health programs. Taking care of mental health of child as well as caregiver is another important aspect of providing optimum care to these children. To accomplish these goals, there is a need to integrate ECD with existing public health programmes with additional focus on elements of early learning opportunities, safety and security, and responsive caregiving.

Keywords: Early childhood development; Learning; Mental health; Nurturing care; Parenting.