Socio-economic survey data to help identify vaccine recipients

NEW DELHI: Findings of Delhi government’s socio-economic survey, which suggests that 2.60% of Delhi’s population has chronic illnesses, is being considered to ascertain the number of people with comorbidities, who will be in line to get Covid-19 vaccines in the third phase of the inoculation drive.

“For people with comorbidities, so far, the government was relying on hospital data, records obtained from departments such as health and social welfare, and findings of door-to-door health surveys which were launched across all 11 revenue districts during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings of the socio-economic survey will now help in ascertaining the numbers under this category,” said a senior government official.

According to the survey – which covered a sample size of around 10.2 million people, roughly half of Delhi’s population – around 2.60% of Delhi suffers from chronic illnesses that qualify as comorbid conditions.

Of those who have comorbid conditions, 36.33% have diabetes, 21.75% have diseases that concern cardiac issues, hypertension and blood circulation, 9.17% have respiratory diseases, 2.33% have thalassemia, 2.02% have tuberculosis, 1.40% have leprosy, 1.33% have some form of cancer, 1.12% have haemophilia, 0.26% have HIV and the remaining 24.29% have been clubbed under “other diseases’’.

The report on the survey – which took place between November 2018 and November 2019, which HT has seen, said, “The highest proportion of diabetes patients in Delhi has been reported as 43.34% from (the) central district and the highest proportion of cardiac patients is 26.20% in north-west district. Further, the highest proportion of patients with respiratory disease is 11.56% in north district.”

While the Delhi government publishes an economic survey every year, this is the first such socio-economic survey with a much larger ambit beyond economic and welfare indicators, which includes schooling, nutrition, access to resources ranging from drinking water to mobile phones and television, transportation, housing and health indicators, among several others.

Delhi’s chief secretary Vijay Dev said, “The findings of the survey have the potential to contribute in several fronts of governance. Assessment of the report is underway. We are examining all aspects of it.”

The survey was ordered by Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in 2018 after three girls – aged between two and eight years – of a family were found to have died of severe malnutrition in east Delhi’s Mandawli. The project, however, faced delays because of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and Delhi Assembly polls in February 2020, said the senior government official.

Dr Suneela Garg, director professor of community medicines department at Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi and member of the Lancet commission for Covid-19 India vaccination task force, said: “The findings of the government report will be very useful in ascertaining an estimated number of people in the category for people with comorbidities.

“So far, to identify people in this category, governments across states are digging into hospital records and departmental records. The government is also planning to take data from the Aarogya Setu application in this regard.”