New Delhi: The heart of India, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest state of the country with the fifth largest population of over 7.2 crore people, according to Census 2011. When it comes to health indicators of the state, government-run think tank, Niti Aayog released a health index report in 2018 and ranked Madhya Pradesh at 18 out of the 21 large states. The report in question is titled ‘Healthy States Progressive India’, and has rated Madhya Pradesh dismally for two consecutive years now, as it was ranked 17th in the previous edition.
Madhya Pradesh, with its tottering health parameters, joins the league of six least-performing states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, that have also recorded a decline in overall performance scores. The performance for the report was based on 23 health indicators like infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate, stunting, mental health/ illnesses, among others.
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Here’s a look at Swasth Report of Madhya Pradesh and its performance on health parameters:
- Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): The Infant mortality rate (deaths before the age of one year) in the Madhya Pradesh saw a decline of about 27 per cent, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4, which is fairly close to the overall reduction of 28 percent seen in the country between 2005 and 2015. The report recorded 51 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015-16, which is still more than the all India figure of infant mortality of 41 per 1000 live births in the same period.
- Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR): Madhya Pradesh’s under-five mortality rate (children dying under the age of five) as per NFHS 4, is at 65 per 1000 live births this is a 30.85 per cent decrease as compared to 94 per 1000 live births recorded in NFHS 3 (2005-06). This is again more that the overall India performance where under five mortality rate has seen a drop of 32.4 per cent to 50 per 1000 live births in NFHS 4 (2015-16) mortality of 74 per 1000 live births in NFHS 3 (2005-06).
The status of infant and under-five mortality rate in Madhya Pradesh
- Malnutrition: The state has also witnessed a downward trend of 17.2 per cent in the cases of children under 5 years who are underweight, dropping to 42.8 per cent in NFHS 4 (2015-16), from 60 per cent in NFHS 3 (2005-06). Again Madhya Pradesh underperforms given cases of underweight children overall in the country is way below 40 percent at 35.8 per cent in 2015-16. On the other hand, while Madhya Pradesh also saw a 9.2 per cent reduction in the cases of wasting of children (low weight for height), with 25.8 per cent in NFHS 4, down from 35 per cent in NFHS 3; the overall cases for wasting rose to 21 per cent in NFHS 4 from 19.8 per cent in NFHS 3.
Madhya Pradesh saw a minor 8 per cent decrease in the cases of stunting in children below the age of 5, as per NFHS 4. The state had 42 per cent cases of stunting according to the same survey whereas this figure stood at 50 in NFHS 3, 2005-06. This is higher than the stunting looking at the all India level which was recorded at 38.4 per cent in 2015-2016 down from 48 per cent in NFHS 3, 2005-06.The status of malnutrition among children in Madhya Pradesh
- Anaemia Among Children And Women: Madhya Pradesh saw a minor 5.1 per cent decline in Anaemia cases for children from 74 percent in 2005-2006 to 68.9 percent in 2015-2016. This is less than the 10.8 percent reduction that has been achieved nationally. When it comes to the women aged 15-49, the state saw another minor decline of 3.4 per cent, from 55.9 per cent to 52.5 per cent between 2005 and 2015, which is better than the 2.2 per cent reduction, as per NFHS 4 survey.
The status of aneamia among women and children in Madhya Pradesh
5. Diarrhoea Cases And Death: According to National Health Profile 2018 report, there were 122 Diarrhoeal deaths in Madhya Pradesh in 2016, whereas in 2017 it came down by 16.39 per cent, with 102 deaths. Out of the total of 1.3 crore (12,927,212) Diarrhoea cases in India, Madhya Pradesh contributed 5.4 per cent or nearly 7 lakh cases (6,98,396) in 2017, which is down from 7,82,421 in 2016.
Cases of Diarrhoea and Diarrhoeal deaths in Madhya Pradesh
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