As per reports in June 2019, the recent ‘health index’ crafted by NITI Aayog, the quality of life is quite strained. Despite the proud boast of growth figures and GDP, the report has something quite alarming. As per the report, the figures on public health have dropped in as many as eight states for obvious reasons. For example, the strike by junior doctors of government hospitals and the resignations by about 500 specialists and senior government doctors rendered public health care out of control in West Bengal. Similarly, the death of 116 children in Muzaffarpur district (Bihar) due to undiagnosed outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) hold pointers to the grave condition of the health system in the country. The scores of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttarakhand have dropped by 5 points or more in 2017–18 compared to 2015–16. The report was prepared by the UN World Food Programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Analysis of the Report
According to an analysis of the country’s food and nutrition society, almost one in three Indian children, under five years, will be stunted by 2022 going by the current trends. Over the last decade, child stunting has reduced at a rate of 1 per cent per year. This slowest decline in emerging economies would render 31.4 per cent children stunted by the 2022 deadline.
(i) Unequal Distribution of Foodgrain Foodgrain yields have risen 33 per cent over the last two decades, which is still half of the 2030 target. Although India is producing more foodgrains than ever before, the consumers’ access to rice, wheat, and other cereals has not increased at the same rate because of population growth, food wastage and losses, inequality, and exports. The sub-text of the index is that uneven economic development is one major reason of the problem.
(ii) Rate of Stunting Therefore, the average per capita consumption of energy among the poorest 30 per cent of the population is 1,811 kcal, much lower than the norm of 2,155 kcal per day. Inequality is rampant in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh that have one in two stunted children, i.e., 48 per cent and 46 per cent each, while Kerala and Goa have one in five stunted children, i.e., 20 per cent each.
There are high rates of stunting among children in the poorest wealth quintile (51.4 per cent), Scheduled Tribes (43.6 per cent) and Scheduled Castes (42.5 per cent), and children born to illiterate mothers (51 per cent), which is a major cause of children’s stunting, wasting, and underweight. As for wasting and underweight prevalence, it is 24.2 per cent and 48.6 per cent respectively compared to the highest wealth quintile, which has stunting, wasting, and underweight at the rate of 22.2 per cent, 17.9 per cent, and 20.1 per cent respectively. Mothers with low body mass index (BMI) have higher prevalence of stunted, wasting, and underweight children.
(iii) Rate of Tuberculosis (TB) The TB treatment success rates have dropped in 29 states. Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Assam, and Andhra Pradesh are among the states that have fared reasonably well. However, certain states with relatively low economic development like Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, and Mizoram have also fared well. West Bengal’s score declined by 1.08 points over two years. Kerala, acknowledged as the best performing state on health parameters till a few years ago, lowered by 2.55 points.
In such a scenario, will and determination are pressingly needed, and the country must double its progress to reach the target of 25 per cent by 2022.
Best Sellers in Office Products
Best Sellers in Apps for Android