New Delhi: Over the years Andhra Pradesh, the tenth most populous state in the country (Census 2011), with a population of 8.46 crores (84,580,777), has shown tremendous improvement in health parameters. According to the NITI Aayog’s 2019 Health Index report ‘Healthy States, Progressive India’, Andhra Pradesh took a big leap from the eight position (2015-16) to second (2017-18) and emerged as the second healthiest state in India after Kerala. The overall performance index score increased from 60.16 (2015-16) to 65.13 (2017-18).
Here’s a look at Swasth Report of Andhra Pradesh and its performance on health:
- Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): The number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births is called Infant mortality rate (IMR). According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) conducted in 2015-16, IMR of Andhra Pradesh stands at 35 better than the national status of 41 per 1000 live births.
- Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR): The under-five mortality rate (U5MR) which is the number of child deaths under five years of age is also lesser in the state than the country’s overall status. NFHS 4 noted U5MR at 41 (per 1000 live births) in Andhra Pradesh and 50 at an all India level. In the state, U5MR is high in rural regions where 66.64 per cent of the population resides. While U5MR in rural Andhra Pradesh was recorded at 45, in urban it was at 29.
Infant Mortality Rate and Under Five Mortality Rate in Andhra Pradesh
- Malnutrition: Imbalance in the intake of micro and macro nutrients leads to malnutrition which is broadly categorised into undernutrition, overweight or obesity and micronutrient related malnutrition. Undernutrition further involves stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), and underweight.The Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017 states that in 2010, the presence of child stunting in the state was 42.9 per cent and seven years down the line that is in 2017, it was observed at 35.1 that is a decline of 7.8 per cent. The fall is almost equivalent to an all India drop of 8 per cent.On the other hand, child wasting too witnessed a downward trend as it came down from 19.3 per cent (2010) to 17.6 per cent (2017). In seven years, while the state saw a decline of 1.7 per cent, child wasting dropped by 1.4 per cent in India.Also Read: Swasth Guide: A-Z About Malnutrition And What It Entails
According to experts, once a child is undernourished and underweight, he/she is likely to remain undernourished. But over the years, Andhra Pradesh has managed to bring down the prevalence of child underweight, reveals the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017. As per the study, in 2010 the prevalence of underweight in the state was 32.9 per cent and in 2017, it came down to 27.2 per cent, which is a drop of 5.7 per cent. Parallelly, the country saw a decline of 8.2 per cent in child underweight, in the same time period.
Child stunting, wasting and underweight witnesses a decline in Andhra Pradesh
- Anaemia Among Children And Women: A downward trend in both child and women anaemia which is both nutritional and non-nutritional was also noted, as per Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017. Child anaemia declined by 8 per cent (from 67.5 per cent in 2010 to 59.5 per cent in 2017), which is similar to the overall country’s performance of 8.1 percent reduction in child anaemia cases. While anaemia in women fell by only 0.7 per cent (from 59.3 per cent in 2010 to 58.6 per cent in 2017) in Andhra, the decline was more at 2.7 per cent at an all India level.
Andhra Pradesh noted a downward trend in both child and women anaemia
- Diarrhoea: Unlike other health indicators, Andhra Pradesh didn’t show much improvement in cases and deaths due to acute diarrhoeal diseases, states National Health Profile 2019. In 2017, almost 12 lakh (11,89,407) cases and 52 deaths were recorded. In 2018, while the number of cases rose to 11.9 lakh cases (11,93,473), the number of deaths due to diarrhoea increased to 72.
Cases of diarrhoes and deaths due to diarrhoea in Andhra Pradesh had a steep rise over the year
Note: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) fieldwork for Andhra Pradesh was conducted from May 2015 to August 2015 and gathered information from over 10 thousand (10,265) households, 10,428 women, and 1,399 men.
For the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017, the data for Andhra Pradesh was disaggregated from its parent state based on its current district composition.
