Is India being health-wise?

The Union Health Ministry recently released the 13th National Health Profile, an annual compilation of data on disease incidence, health infrastructure and health finance. Here are a few takeaways.

Fertility in India is declining rapidly. Total Fertility Rate in 12 states has fallen below 2 children per woman. Delhi, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have lowest fertility

INDIA'S HEALTH 1

spending is a paltry `3 per day per capita or 1.02 per cent of the GDP, much lower than the global average of 6 per cent. The figure puts India behind even lower-income countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. One government allopathic doctor serves every 11,082 people, 11 times more than the WHO recommended ratio of 1:1,000. Similarly, one government dental surgeon serves every 176,004 people.

2 ASSAM, ODISHA,

Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are the worst states to be born in, with their infant mortality, neonatal mortality and maternal mortality much higher than the national average. Overall, the picture was not too grim, with a marked decrease in the infant mortality rate (from 74 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1994 to 34 in 2016) and maternal mortality rate (that decreased by 11 points during 2010-13). Life expectancy has improved too.

RABIES WAS 3

among the most lethal communicable diseases in 2017, with a 100 per cent fatality rate in 97 reported cases. Most deaths were reported from West Bengal (26) and then Karnataka (15). Swine flu cases increased 21 times. Japanese Encephalitis cases were 2,180 with 12 per cent mortality rate. Most cases (693) and deaths (93) were reported from Uttar Pradesh. While chikungunya cases shot up by 70 per cent since 2013, dengue cases increased by 22 per cent in 2017.