Social uplift of women is must to ensure success of schemes aimed at development of women and children, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said here on Wednesday.

"Empowerment of women impacts the health of the girl child. The UPA government has recently promulgated an ordinance regarding atrocities against women. Similarly, laws have been enacted for tackling domestic violence, provide property rights, and reservation for women in local bodies," Gandhi said.

Speaking at the launch of the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (Child Health Screening and Early Intervention Services programme) at the tribal town here in Thane district of Maharashtra, Gandhi hoped that the objective of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) initiative to benefit 27 crore children would be achieved through effective implementation and monitoring.

The scheme will be extended to cover all districts in the country in a phased manner, she said.

Challenges in health sector for welfare of women and children were immense, she said. "Despite best efforts, infant mortality is an area of concern. 40 per cent children are still affected by malnutrition," she said.

The Centre has ensured that there has been no shortage of funds for social welfare and human resources development, she said.

"Under the NRHM, Rs 90,000 crore have been provided to states. Maharashtra has taken maximum benefit of the funds because of which infant and mother mortality rate have reduced considerably," she said.

"Children are the future of the country. Their well-being is our concern. That is why the Congress-led government has started such programmes," she said.

Gandhi said the government had distributed Rs 90,000 crores to states under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the last seven years for the welfare of the masses in the rural and remote areas of the country.

The current programme is also being launched under the NRHM scheme of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The initiative is aimed at improving overall quality of life of children through early detection of birth defects, diseases and deficiencies, which are among key factors for child mortality and out of pocket expenditure for poor families, as well as development delays including disability.

Under the programme, a set of 30 common conditions have been identified for screening and further management of child health.

These services are built on the existing school health services and will be provided through dedicated mobile health teams placed in every block who will comprise of four health personnel including two AYUSH doctors, an ANM and a pharmacist.

The teams will carry out screening of all the children in the age group 06 years enrolled at Anganwadi centres at least twice a year besides screening of all children enrolled in Government and Government aided schools.

Birth defects account for 9.6 per cent of all new-born deaths and 4 per cent of under five mortality.

According to the 2006 March of Dimes Global Report on Birth Defects, out of every 100 babies born in this country every year, 6 to 7 have a birth defect. In Indian context, this would translate to 17 lakhs birth defects annually.

Development delays affect at least 10 per cent children and if not intercepted timely may lead to permanent disabilities including cognitive, hearing or vision.