MALNUTRITION kills 3.1million young children every year – equivalent to one every 10 SECONDS – according to the latest shocking figures. 

Almost half of the 6.3 million worldwide deaths of children under five can directly be linked to having inadequate nutrition. 

That figure is more than the entire population of Wales yet shockingly experts say there IS enough food to go around – it just doesn’t go to everyone. 

Poverty, a lack of appropriate healthcare and education – and often a lack of political will – are among the reasons why innocent children are needlessly dying.

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“It is rare people actually die of starvation – which is a complete lack of food like the famine in Ethiopia. But they do die of malnutrition.”

The appalling statistics emerged as world leaders recently met to pledge extra money and support for the silent killer. 

Ms Prinzo said it should theoretically be possible to wipe out mortality from malnutrition within a generation but it needs a more targeted approach by governments and aid agencies. 

“We are talking mortality here and that should be the aim for sure,” she added. “We will never reach zero for malnutrition but we have to reach zero mortality. We have to aim that children are not dying.”

Fabricating test results after dumping blood samples in the sink. Stitching up the cervix of pregnant women on the pretext of preventing miscarriage. Labeling healthy people as having diabetes.

When it comes to health providers duping patients to fatten their wallets, Dr. Arun Gadre, a gynecologist-turned-health activist in India, has heard it all, and then some.

Last year he interviewed 78 doctors from across India about the professional malpractice they’d encountered during their careers. His findings, while shocking to outsiders, were less of a surprise to Gadre.

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Details from the interviews appeared online February 24 in the BMJ, alongside two other papers on the lack of effective regulation and whistleblower protection in India’s chaotic health sector.

Most experts agree that healthcare fraud is rampant in the world’s largest democracy, with recent corruption scandals engulfing everyone from doctors to drug companies and health regulators.

Gadre’s work suggests that three types of malpractice are particularly common: kickbacks for referrals, irrational drug prescribing and unnecessary interventions.

One interviewee told Gadre that doctors typically get 30,000 to 40,000 Indian rupees (US$480-640) for referring patients for angioplasty. For perspective, many Indian health providers make less than US$10,000 a year.

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Gadre said that when he started practicing, physicians referred patients to him without expecting a cut. But that changed, and he began to lose business when he refused to pay up.

“As the medical sector became more and more commercialized, the same doctors started asking for commission and the number of patients who came to my hospital started to drop,” he says.

While kickbacks are illegal in India, they are nearly impossible to avoid, health providers say. Young doctors in particular, many with towering student debts, find it hard to survive without them.

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The health sector in India is largely private, and most people pay out of pocket. A 2011 study in The Lancet found that 39 million Indians fall into poverty yearly from medical expenses.

Another theme in Gadre’s interviews is irrational drug use. He tells of a girl who received steroids for red eyes from a homeopathic health provider. She later developed cataracts, a known side effect from prolonged use, and needed surgery.

Alternative practitioners such as homeopaths and Ayurvedic healers are common in India, and many people prefer them over doctors with a diploma in modern medicine. While not allowed to use modern drugs, in practice they do so with impunity, often encouraged by drug company sales representatives.

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In the so-called “sink test,” the doctor orders lab tests despite not suspecting any medical problems.

“Only a few of the tests are performed, and the extra blood collected is dumped in the sink,” Gadre writes. “Fabricated results are given in the normal range for all tests that were not performed. The patient pays a large sum, which is shared by the referring doctor and the pathologist.”

Other examples include unwarranted C-sections and hysterectomies, he said, or cervical stitches based on false reports suggesting a pregnant woman might miscarry.

Although India’s public health centers are known to be understaffed and dysfunctional, Gadre and many public health experts believe privatization of medical services and education is at the root of the problems.