Honorable chief guest, guests of honor, distinguished dignitaries on the dias, guest speakers, delegates from India and abroad, respected teachers, past presidents of IAP, members of APSSEAR, MCI, WHO, UNICEF, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, organizers of the 8th Asian Congress of Pediatrics and XXXI National Conference of IAP, fellow delegates, media persons, friends, ladies and gentlemen.

Market transitions in the former Soviet Union and the Central and East European countries (the CEECs) have witnessed large-scale and widespread deterioration in social conditions (UNICEF, 1993, 1994, 1995; Milanovic, 1996). The worsening in social development indicators has been commonly viewed as an inevitable consequence of the severe economic decline as the concurrence of the two processes s...

Undernutrition is a complex problem generated by factors operating at several levels and cannot be attributed only to lack of food. Therefore actions should target the different causes to achieve sustainable change. This requires a multi-sectoral approach. Figure 1 illustrates the commonly used UNICEF developed conceptual framework for understanding the causes of undernutrition [1]. Three level...

OBJECTIVES In Switzerland, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) proposed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was introduced in 1993 to promote breastfeeding nationwide. This study reports results of a national study of the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding in 2003 throughout Switzerland and analyzes the influence of compliance with UNICEF guidelines of the hospital whe...

“The world is failing children by not ensuring they have enough to eat, says the UN Children's Fund (Unicef), May 02 , 2006. It says the number of children under five who are underweight has remained virtually unchanged since 1990, despite a target to reduce the number affected” BBC May 02, 2006. Half of all the under-nourished children in the world live in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, and Pa...

Marcel survived the genocide. So did Monique. Their five children were not so fortunate. With a resilience almost super-human, Marcel and Monique rebuilt their lives, Marcel resuming his work with UNICEF in successive duty postings in Africa and Europe. I remember meeting with him in Bamako a few years back. There was a funding shortfall for the measles campaign. He was all business, pulling ou...

Now recognised as a worldwide public health issue the significance of promoting and encouraging exclusive breastfeeding has been acknowledged by The World Health Organisation (WHO) and The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Documented policies regarding the importance of facilitating the support of breastfeeding women is currently receiving worldwide recognition (WHO 2011, WHO and UNICEF ...