Health Index Report by NITI Aayog : Important Topics for UPSC Exams

Health Index Report by NITI Aayog : Important Topics for UPSC Exams

NITI Aayog released health index report, titled ‘Healthy States, Progressive India.  Government will give a special grant to the states on the basis of performance on Index.

About the Report

• NITI Aayog has prepared this index with the help of World Bank, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, States and Union Territories.

• The report ranks states and Union territories on their, overall performance with respect to each other as well as their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes.

• It is the maiden attempt to establish an annual systematic tool to measure and understand the heterogeneity and complexity of the nation’s performance in Health and the Health Index will serve as a tool for ensuring cooperative federalism.

• To ensure comparison among similar entities, States and UTs have been ranked in three categories namely, Larger States, Smaller States, and Union Territories (UTs).

• The Health Index is a weighted composite Index, which for the larger States, is based on indicators in three domains:

(a) Health Outcomes (70%);

(b) Governance and Information (12%); and

(c) Key Inputs and Processes (18%), with each domain assigned a weight based on its importance.

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Findings of the Report

Larger States

• In terms of overall performance, Kerala topped the list among the Larger States, while Punjab, and Tamil Nadu has been ranked 2nd and 3rd.

• According to the report, in terms of overall performance Kerala has topped the list with a score of 80 points on the Health index, while Uttar Pradesh has performed the worst with 33.69 points. This score of UP is lowest in larger, smaller States and all Union Territories

• The report indicates that Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh showed the maximum improvement in indicators such as Neonatal Mortality Rate, Under-five Mortality Rate, institutional deliveries, full immunisation coverage, and People Living with HIV (PLHIV) on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).

• Jharkhand is at number 14 on health Index with 45.33 points. The special thing is that in the recent years, the state has improved its performance quite swiftly. Jharkhand has improved by 6.87 points over the previous year, which is the highest among other states.

• Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha are among the worst performing states in this index.

Smaller States

• Amon smaller states Mizoram ranked first on the basis of overall performance while Manipur ranked 2nd.

• In terms of annual incremental performance Manipur was the top ranker as Manipur registered maximum incremental progress on indicators such as PLHIV on ART, grading quality parameters of Community Health Centres (CHCs), first trimester antenatal care (ANC) registration, average occupancy of key State-level officers and good reporting on the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) while it was followed by Goa. 

Union Territories (UTs)

• Lakshadweep showed both the best overall performance as well as the highest annual incremental performance among UT’s as it registered the highest improvement in indicators such as institutional deliveries, transfer of National Health Mission (NHM) funds from State Treasury to implementation agency and tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate. 

• Delhi was ranked 3rd among UTs while Chandigarh ranked 2nd.

Other important findings of the report

• Vacancies in key staff, quality accreditation of public health facilities, establishment of functional district cardiac care units, and institutionalisation of human resources management information system are the common challenges for most States and Union Territories.

• The Health Index report notes that it is a challenge for States with high Index scores to even maintain their performance levels as approximately one-third of the States have registered a decline in their performance in 2016 as compared to 2015, stressing the need to pursue domain-specific, targeted interventions. 

This Index is expected to press States towards further achieving a rapid transformation of their health systems and population health outcomes and Niti Ayog by June 2018 has also planned to issue the ranking of 730 government hospitals in the country so that the names of states having good and bad performance can be made public. With the annual publication of the Index and its availability on public domain on a dynamic basis, it is expected to keep every stakeholder alert to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) which has aim of ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.  

MODEL QUESTIONS

Q. Which of the following statement is wrong according to the latest NITI Ayog Health Report?

A. Lakshadweep showed both the best overall performance as well as the highest annual incremental performance among UT’s.

B. Among the smaller states Mizoram ranked first on the basis of overall performance while Manipur ranked 2nd.

C. In terms of overall performance, Kerala topped the list among the Larger States, while Punjab, and Tamil Nadu has been ranked 2nd and 3rd.

D. The Health Index is not a weighted composite Index.

Answer-D

Q. What is the status of health Sector in India? Do you think there is wider disparity in terms of health indicators among the states? Substantiate your stand with respect to the latest Health Index Report by NITI Ayog?  

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