Indians are less likely to seek medical help for a sick infant if they are a girl than a boy, with more female infants dying in the first month after giving birth to males, the United Nations has said.
More babies are dying in India than in any other country in the world, with 600.000 deaths being recorded annually, or a quarter worldwide, according to a report released by Unicef on Tuesday.
In fact, citing elements of the Indian government, Unicef emphasizes that in this report girls are much more than boys. But even in the under-five age group, although the mortality rate has dropped by almost 65% from 1990 to 2015, girls are much higher.
"Girls have the advantage of being stronger biologically, but unfortunately they are extremely socially vulnerable," said Jasmine Ali Huck, a spokeswoman for Unicef in India.
"Discrimination begins even before they are born," he said.
India offers free medical care for newborns at more than 700 state children's hospitals. But almost 60% of newborns admitted to these hospitals were boys, according to data compiled in 2017 by Unicef.
"It simply came to our notice then. They have less value in society, "said Gagan Gupta, a health expert at Unicef.
Parents avoid taking girls to the doctor because they do not want to be absent from work and lose their wages, or to pay for transportation to the hospital, Gupta explained.
After all, many parents in India prefer to have boys as, according to unwritten social rules, women in the country are not allowed to attend any religious ceremonies or even inherit, although these distinctions are typically illegal. In fact, daughters are considered a burden because families have to pay a dowry when they get married.
Boys' preference has also led to an increase in abortions due to gender, which has led to a shortage of women in India. It is estimated that 63 million women are "missing" from the country.
The Indian government is campaigning for the protection and education of girls and young women and has increased the social benefits it pays to girls' parents. But activists say the situation has not changed.
"We even see in the fight against malnutrition centers that more boys and girls are coming," said Narendra Gupta, head of public health at Rajasthan, where high rates of female infant mortality are recorded.