• A Lancet Study state that there have been 2, 39,000 “excess deaths” per year of girls under the age of five in India.
• Around 22% of the overall mortality burden of under-five females is therefore due to gender bias.
• Excess mortality is the difference between observed and expected mortality rates in both genders.
• This study focuses on mortality after birth whereas most of the studies of India’s skewed sex ratios have focused on pre-natal mortality.

• The worst affected areas were all rural, agricultural areas with lower levels of education, high population densities, low socio-economic development and high levels of fertility.
• Many deaths of females under five were partly due to unwanted child bearing and subsequent neglect.

Source:TH