Lok Sabha Question No. 4517 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-20
Subject: Health Index
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4517 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH MARCH, 2020

## HEALTH INDEX

## 4517. SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the data released by UNO's World Health Organization and also World Bank regarding the factors effecting life expectancy and death worldwide and the status of healthcare related thereto;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the rank of India in the list of 145 countries;
- (c) the reaction of the Government to the statistics made available by WHO/World Bank;
- (d)  whether  the  country  has  been  lagging  behind  in t e  matters  of prominent  health  indexes compared  tovarious  developing  countries  including  Nepal  and Bangladesh,  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has taken any steps to improve the health norms in the country and if so, the details thereof?

## A NSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a)& (b): The report -' World Health Statistics 2019 - Monitoring Health for the SDGs' published by World Health Organization s intended to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As per the said report, globally the disparities in health, survival and longevity depends upon access to food, safe drinking water, sanitation, medical care and other basic human needs, as well as behavioural choices and societal contexts that affect the survival of individuals. According to the report, global life expectancy at birth ( for both sexes combined) has increased by 5.5 years, from 66.5 in 2000yearsto 72.0 years in 2016 .The said report can be accessed from https://www.who.int/gho/publications/world\_health\_statistics/2019/en/ .  However,  there  is  no country - wise ranking mentioned in that report.
- (c): Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has taken various measures to provid e better health services to ensure healthy life and to further improve the average life expectancy of the the countr y:
- In order to mitigate the effect o f increasing burden of diseases associated with increased life expectancy National Health Mission has initiated various programs like  National  Programme  for  Prevention  and  Control  of  Cancer,  Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS), National P rogramme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI), National Mental  Health Programme (NMHP), National Programme for Healthcare of Elderly (NPHCE), National Programme for the Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD) etc .
- The Ayushman Bharat effort, with its two components of Health and Wellness Centres(HWCs)  and  Pradhan  Mantri  Jan  Arogya  Yojana  (PMJAY),  addresses disparity  in  access  and  reduces  out  of  pocket  expenditure  for  secondary tertiary care hospitalization for 40% of India 's population. The scheme provides hospital care for about 1,350 illnesses at secondary and tertiary level empa public  and  private  hospitals. HWC  encourages  healthy  choices  and  behaviours including Yoga and other physical activities.
- National  Health Mission  (NHM)  is  creating  a  network  of  1,50,000  HWCs  by upgrading  existing Sub  Centres  (SCs)  and  Primary  Health  Centres  (PHCs)  to provide Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC), which is universal and free to  all  those  who  access  public  health  facilitie s.  The  CPHC  basket  of  services cover  12  key  service  areas,  which  go  beyond  the  Reproductive,  Maternal Neonatal,  Child  and  Adolescent  Health  (RMNCH+A)  services  to  include screening and care for NCDs etc.
- National Health Policy, 2017 also emphasises on prov ision of availability of free, comprehensive  primary  health  care  services,  for  all  aspects  of  reproduct maternal, child and adolescent health and for the most prevalent communicabl non- communicable and occupational diseases in t he population.

(d): A s per ' World Health Statistics 2019 - Monitoring Health for the SDGs' report, the data of India, Bangladesh and  Nepal  in  terms  of  Life  expectancy,  MMR,  U5MR  and  Neonatal mortality rate is placed below:

| Countries   |   Life Expectancy at Birth (Both Sexes) (2016) |   Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) per 1, 00, 000 live births (2015) |   Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) per 1, 000 live births (2017) |   Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) per 1, 000 live births (2017) |
|-------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| Bangladesh  |                                           72.7 |                                                                176 |                                                            32 |                                                            18 |
| Nepal       |                                           70.2 |                                                                258 |                                                            34 |                                                            21 |
| India       |                                           68.8 |                                                                174 |                                                            39 |                                                            24 |

(e): In order to improve the health norms in the country, the Government of India has the following steps:

- Continuum of care is being provided to all elderly citizen of age above 60 from preventive and promotive up to rehabilitation in Geriatric units of Distri Hospital, Community Health Centres and Primary Health Centres under National programme for Healthcare of Elderly (NPHCE).
- Providing  financial  support  in  the  form  of  untied  funds,  annual  maintena grants and Rogi Kalyan Samiti ( RKS ) funds for development of health facilities and ensuring services.
- In addition, certain new initiatives have been undertaken like the Screenin or Non - communicable  Diseases  (NCDs),  Mothers  Absolute  Affection,  Pradhan Mantri Shurakshit Matratva Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Program, Mission  Indradhanush,  Rashtriya  Swasthya  Bal  Karyakram  (RBSK),  Kayakalp, Labour  room  quality  improvement initiative - LAQSHYA, Surakshit  Matritva Aashwasan  (SUMAN)  (to  end  all  preventable  maternal  and  neonatal  deaths), National Health Mission Free Drugs and Free Diagnostics, National programme for Palliative Care (NPPC) etc.