India’s First District Health Survey UP worst, U’khand best in child health

The country’s first-ever district-level health survey has placed smaller states, including Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, on the top for most of the health indicators surveyed and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh at the bottom.

It finds neonatal mortality as the biggest challenge as seven out of every 10 infant deaths involve neonates. Here, inter-district variations are astounding.

Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand has the lowest neonatal mortality rate (NNMR) of 11 while Orissa’s Bolangir has the highest at 75. The survey proves zero correlation between people’s response to general child and maternal health and their preference for the male child.

So Uttarakhand, which tops on six of the nine health indicators studied in this largest global sample survey (18.2 million persons covered in nine biggest Indian states), stands at the bottom on sex ratio at birth (SRB) table, with Pithoragarh district posting the lowest number (764) of females born per 1,000 males as against Moradabad in UP with the highest 1,030. “This is the first time since Uttarakhand was carved out of UP that separate data is available for the two states,” said Health Secretary K Chandramauli.
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