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          New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Bihar's health system has been lauded   for its effective child healthcare model that is now being taken up as global   best-practice, the annual state of the world's mothers report said here   Tuesday.
 |  The annual flagship report by 'Save the Children' has singled out an initiative   in Bihar as a global best-practice. The report also rates India as the fourth   worst place for mother care among 80 'less developed countries'.
 "Bihar,   one of the poorest in the country, is at the forefront of the battle against   vitamin A deficiency, which afflicts up to 62 percent of pre-school age children   in rural India," the report launched here said.
 
 In 2009, Bihar's vitamin   A supplementation programme reached 13.4 million children under 5, protecting 95   percent of children in this age group against the devastating consequences of   vitamin A deficiency.
 
 This high coverage came at a time when the national   coverage across India was estimated at only 34 percent, the report   pointed.
 
 "Over 11,000 health centres and 80,000 'anganwadis' (child   development centres) serve as core distribution sites for vitamin A supplements   in the state. In addition, more than 3,400 temporary sites were organized to   deliver vitamin A within small, isolated communities," the report noted.
 
 
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