The index was launched hoping it would assist in state level monitoring of performance
The NITI Aayog on Friday launched a 'Performance on Health Outcomes' index to nudge states towards transformative action in the health sector.
The index has been developed over several months, with inputs from domestic and international experts, including academicians and development partners, and by seeking feedback from states through multiple iterations and pretesting the indicators in two states prior to its finalisation.
"It is meant to capture the annual incremental improvements by states, rather than focus on historical achievements. The features of the index, measures, and methods of data submission will be disseminated to the states through workshops," a NITI Aayog statement said.
"It includes indicators in the domains of health outcomes, governance, and information, and a few key inputs and processes. This initiative is envisioned to bring about the much required improvements in social sector outcomes, which have not kept pace with the economic growth in this country. It will be used to propel action in the states to improve health outcomes and improve data collection systems," it added.
Monitorable indicators that form a part of the Sustainable Development Goal in health have been included in order to align these initiatives. "It is anticipated that this health index will assist in state level monitoring of performance, serve as an input for providing performance based incentives, and improvement in health outcomes, thereby also meeting the citizens' expectations," the statement said.
The exercise involves the participation of several partners including technical assistance from the World Bank, mentor agencies to hand-hold states where required during the exercise, and third party organisations to validate the data submitted prior to calculation of the index. Data will be entered and results published on a dynamic web portal hosted by NITI Aayog.
NITI Aayog, along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, jointly released the guidebook for the exercise in the first of a series of regional workshops to be conducted across the country until February.
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