Lok Sabha Question No. 1951 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-12
Subject: National Family Health Survey
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Gaddam Ranjith Reddy

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

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1951 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 TH FEBRUARY, 2021

## NATIONAL FAMILY HEAL TH SURVEY

## 1951.DR. G. RANJITH REDDY:

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

- (a) the details of each of the 131 variables/indicators of social welfare taken into account by the National Family Health Survey 2019 - 20;
- (b) the details of indicators which are stagnant when compared to 2015- 16 data and details of indicators which have declined when compared to the same data;
- (c)  the  reasons  for  stagnation  of  those  indicators and  efforts  being  made  by  the  Ministry  to improve them;
- (d) the reasons as to why the country has the highest num ber of underweight mother and children inthe world; and
- (e) the corrective measure taken by the Government to improve declining indicators thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) & (b): The list of the 131 indicators for which dataare given in the recently released NFHS - 5 Phase - I Fact sheets for 22 States/UTs and its comparative analysis with NFHS - 2015- 16 data for these 22 States/UTs can be accessed from http://rchiips.org/NFHS/factsheet\_NFHS - 5.shtml .
- (c): Public Health and hospitals, being a State subject, the primary responsibility of p accessible, affordable and quality healthcare, u pgradation and strengthening of existing health facilities lies with the State Governments. Under the National Health Mission (NHM), howe financial  and  technical  support  is  provided  to  States/UTs  for  strengthening  their  he systems including for expansion of its public health institutions as well as for deploymen human resources to cater to public health services to all citizen based on the proposals from States/UTs through Programme Implementation Plan (PIP).
- (d) & (e): As per Nat ional Family Health Survey 2015 - 16  (NFHS - 4),  percentage  of Children under 5 years who are underweigh t (weight -for - age) was 35.8% whereas percentage of wo men whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below norma l was 22.9%.

Government of India has undertaken vario us pr gramme and interventions to improve the maternal and child health status. Some of the key programme interventions are as follows:

- Surakshit Matritva Ashwasan (SUMAN) aims to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare toevery woman and newborn visiting the public health facility.
- JananiSurakshaYojana (JSY), a demand promotion and conditional cash transfer scheme which aims at promoting institutional delivery.
- Since 2018, the  Anaemia  Mukt  Bhaarat  (AMB)  strategy is in place with the  objective  of reducing anaemia prevalence among children, adolescents and women in reproductive ag group.The  6x6x6  strategy  under  AMB  implies  six  age  groups,  six  interventions  and  s institutional mechanisms. The strategy focuses on ensuring supply c hain, demand generation and strong monitoring using the dashboard for addressing anaemia, both due to nutrit and non­ nutritional causes.
- JananiShishuSurakshaKaryakram (JSSK)under which every pregnant woman is entitled to free  delivery,  including  c aesarean  section,  in  public  health  institutions  along  with provision of free transport, diagnostics, med icines, other consumables & diet.
- Pradhan  Mantri Surakshit MatritvaAbhiyan (PMSMA) provides  a  minimum  package  of antenatal care services including investigations and drugs on the 9 th day of every month.
- Community  Outreach  is  envisaged  through  the Monthly  Village  Health,  Sanitation  and Nutrition Day s(VHSND) for provision of maternal and child care servic s.
- Regular IEC/BCC is also a part of all the s chemes for greater demand generation
- Promotion of appropriate infant and young child feeding practices that include early in of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months of age through ASHA worker health  care  provider  at  health  fa cilities  is  promoted  under  Mothers'  Absolute  Affection (MAA) programme.
- Nutrition Education, Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHND) are monthly days held at village level in Anganwadi centres to increase the awareness and bring about desired change in the dietary practices (including iron rich food) and promotion of breastfeeding ;
- Under  the  Rashtriya  Bal  Swasthya  Ka ryakram  (RBSK)  and  Rashtriya  Kishor  Swasthya Karyakram  (RKSK),  systema tic  efforts  are  undertaken  to  detect  nutrition al deficiency including anaemia among children and adolescents respectively ;
- To increase  awareness about use of  ORS and  Zinc in diarrhoea, an  Intensified Diarr Control Fortnight (IDCF) is being observed dur ing monsoon season with the ultimate aim of 'zero child deaths due to childhood diarrhoea' .