Fewer Delhiites fall ill vis-a-vis other states: survey

The capital has relatively better health services

 Fewer Delhiites fell sick in 2014 as compared to other states, says a survey released on Thursday by Delhi government.

The survey ‘Social consumption on health in Delhi’ – conducted before the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in February 2015 – points to the Capital’s relatively better public health services.   

While some 48 people per 1,000 fell ill in the city’s rural areas, the figure was 50 per 1,000 in urban Delhi in 2014. In contrast, the national average of ailing persons per 1,000 was 89 in rural areas and 118 in urban regions during the period, said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia while releasing the report.

The study brought out by the city government’s Directorate of Economics and Statistics is based on the findings of National Sample Survey’s 71st round on health and morbidity, which was carried out between January and June, 2014.

In all, 51.4 per cent of the hospitalised cases (excluding child birth) were reported from public hospitals in urban Delhi as against an average of 32 per cent such cases in urban areas at the national level, added Sisodia.

As per the survey, the comparative figures of ailing people in urban areas were 170 per 1,000 in Punjab, 75 in Haryana and 51 in Himachal Pradesh. Forty-one people per 1,000 were found to be sick in urban Jammu and Kashmir, 83 in Rajasthan, 91 in Uttar Pradesh and 103 in Gujarat.

Sisodia added that the rate of hospitalisation (including child birth) per 1,000 was 41 in urban Delhi. It was lower than the national average of 49, indicating relatively better health services in urban Delhi.

The comparative figures for hospitalised cases in urban areas of Punjab were 40 per 1,000, Haryana 50, Himachal Pradesh 33, J&K 37, Rajasthan 43 and Uttar Pradesh 40.
He said that the average expenditure incurred on treatment per hospitalised case (excluding child birth) was Rs 24,952 in urban areas in Delhi as against Rs 26,455 in urban areas at the national level.

The average expenditure incurred for treatment per hospitalised case for the urban areas in Punjab was estimated at Rs 31,978, and Haryana spent Rs 35,217 per ailing person in its urban areas. While Rs 31,160 was spent per sick person in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh incurred Rs 33,402 per hospitalised person.

The percentage share of public hospitals in treatment of hospitalised cases in urban areas of Haryana was 18.3 per cent, 71.8 per cent in Himachal Pradesh and 85.4 per cent in J&K.

Public hospitals’ share in treatment of hospitalised cases in urban areas of Punjab was 30.2 per cent, and 54.4 per cent of cases were treated at public hospitals in urban Rajasthan.  For Uttar Pradesh, this figure was 28.3 per cent.

Sisodia said that the old age dependency ratio in Delhi was 6.97 which indicated that 100 persons in the age group of 15 to 59 years were supporting around seven elderly persons in 2014.