Survey reveals lapses in rural health mission

Uttar Pradesh tops list of 57 districts with lowest health indicators; sex selection rampant in all areas

Out of these 57, as many as 34 districts are in Uttar Pr­adesh making it a state where half of the districts are below par in terms of health indicators. There are 11 districts from Madhya Pradesh, five from Rajasthan and seven  from Assam to complete the list.

These districts have been identified by a national survey covering 284 districts in nine states –Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Assam – in which data was collected on crude birth rate, death rate, infant mortality rate, noe-natal mortality, under-five mortality, maternal mortality and sex ratio.

Disturbing variations
“For the first time, numbers have been collected at the district level, which will help in policy planning. It shows that even within states, there are variations suggesting NRHM works have to be concentrated further,” said K Chandramouli, union health secretary.

Though NRHM was lau­nched in 2005, its implementation only began in 2007 with the government claiming that health situations in rural India have improved in the mission. However, all is not well with the NRHM as revealed by the recent scam in Uttar Pradesh.

The survey shows infant mortality rate that denotes the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births is minimum at 19 in Rudraprayag in Uttarkhand and maximum at 103 in Shrawasti in Uttar Pradesh.

Rudraprayag has a minim­um Neo Natal Mortality Rate (infants less than 29 days of age) of 11 too whereas Balangir in Orissa has the maximum at 75.  Under Five Mortality Rate is the lowest (24) in Pithoragarh of Uttarakhand and highest (145) in Kandhamal, Orissa.

Kumaon has the minimum maternal mortality rate of 183 per 1,00,000 live births whereas the maximum MMR of 451 was found in Faizabad in UP. The survey found that 33 districts have a sex ratio below 850 while in 127 districts the ratio is under 900.

The evil practice of sex selection was found more in urban areas as against villages.  “Its a matter of concern that sex selection is more common among the educated people in urban areas,” Chandramouli said.