Despite a spurt in the composite Health Index scores to 61.07 in the reference year 2015 from 60.09 in the base year 2014, the ranking of Maharashtra among 21 large states continued to remain at six
Despite being the most industrialised state in the country which has set a target to become a trillion dollar economy, Maharashtra missed the mark in crucial health indicators.
In a report released on Friday by Niti Aayog, Maharashtra ranked behind its smaller counterparts like Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in various health parameters.
Despite a spurt in the composite Health Index scores to 61.07 in the reference year 2015 from 60.09 in the base year 2014, the ranking of Maharashtra among 21 large states continued to remain at six.
However, Maharashtra along with Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu have already attained the National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 neonatal mortality rate (NMR) goal for 2025.
The under 5 mortality rate (which reflects the probability of dying before attaining the age of 5), has increased in Maharashtra.
According to the report, the U5MR or the number of deaths under the age of 5 per 1000 live births during a specific year reflects a combination of several factors, such as the nutritional status of children, health knowledge of mothers, level of immunization and oral rehydration therapy, access to maternal, and child health services, income of the family, and availability of safe drinking water and basic sanitation services.
However there was a silver lining too in the report for the state. Maharashtra achieved total fertility rate (TFR) of less than 2.1.
The TFR represents the average number of children that would be born to a woman if she experiences the current age-specific fertility rate throughout her reproductive years (15-49 years).
Further, Maharashtra has recorded substantial drop (10 or more points) in sex Ratio at Birth indicator which reflects the extent to which there is a reduction in the number of girl children born by sex-selective abortions.
This indicator was only available for the category of Larger States.
Uttar Pradesh ranked the worst among the larger states due to the Gorakhpur Tragedy last year which shook the entire nation.
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