National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4)

• A latest survey by the government has shown positive trends in key health indicators, including an improvement in sex ratio at birth and a decline in infant mortality rate during 2015-16.

Main highlights:

• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) declined from 57 to 41 per 1,000 live births between NFHS-3 (2005-06) and NFHS-4.
•  IMR has declined substantially in almost all the states during the last decade. It dropped by more than 20 percentage points in Tripura, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha.
• Results of the survey reflected that concerted efforts and focussed interventions in the sector could translate to improved outcomes.
• Sex ratio at birth (number of females per 1,000 males) improved from 914 to 919 at the national level over the last decade with the highest in Kerala (1,047), followed by Meghalaya (1,009) and Chhattisgarh (977).
• Haryana also witnessed a significant increase from 762 to 836.
• Similarly, institutional births "dramatically" increased by 40 percentage points from 38.7 per cent in NFHS-3 to 78.9 per cent in NFHS-4.
• There was an increase of 34.1 per cent institutional births in public facility, while the Empowered Action Group (EAG) in Assam experienced more than a 40 percentage point increase, the survey said.
• Proportion of women who received at least 4 antenatal care visits for their last birth has increased by 14 percentage points from 37 per cent to 51.2 per cent over the decade (2005-15), while there has been a substantial increase of 20 or more percentage points in seven states.
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR) too declined to 2.2 children per woman from 2.7 in NFHS-3 moving closer to target level of 2.1.
• There was considerable decline in the TFR in each of the 30 states in India with the maximum decline observed in Uttar Pradesh (1.1 child) followed by Nagaland (1.0 child), Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (0.9 child each). Bihar, however, failed to register substantial decline.
• Children within the age of 12-23 months have been fully immunised (BCG, measles and 3 doses each of polio) and DPT increased by 18 percentage points from 44 per cent in NFHS-3 to 62 per cent in NFHS-4.
• There was a decline in percentage of underweight children by 7 percentage points, a consequence of improved child feeding practices and focus on nutritional aspects of children.
• There was "substantial" decline of anaemia among children aged 6-59 months as it declined from 69 per cent in NFHS-3 to 58 per cent in NFHS-4.
• The maximum decrease was reported in Assam with 34 percentage points followed by Chhattisgarh (30 percentage points), Mizoram (26 percentage points) and Odisha (20 percentage points).
• Unmet needs for family planning has shown a decline, pointing towards increased outreach of family planning methods. Contraceptive prevalence rate among currently married women increased by 7 percentage points from NFHS-1 (41 per cent) to NFHS-2 (48 per cent), 8 percentage points from NFHS-2 to NFHS-3 (56 per cent).

By: Vishal