Kerala tops Niti Aayog health index; UP ranks last but shows highest incremental change

As India monitors the rise of Omicron variant, Niti Aayog released its state health index ranking 2019-2020 on Monday - Kerala tops and Uttar Pradesh ranks last. As per the ranking, Kerala has scored a health index of 82.2, while UP scored 30.57. However, UP is ranked top in incremental performance as it has bettered its performance from 25.07 in 2018-2019 to 30.57 in 2019-20. 

State health index: Kerala tops, UP lags

As per the rankings, Kerala is followed by Tamil Nadu (72.42), Telangana (69.96), Andhra Pradesh (69.95) and Maharashtra (69.14). The laggard states from the bottom are - Uttar Pradesh (30.57), Bihar (31), Madhya Pradesh (36.72), Rajasthan (41.33) and Uttarakhand (44.21). The deciding factors are - Health outcomes, governance and information and key inputs/processes.

In terms of incremental change, Bihar tops the list in terms of neonatal mortality rate, under-five mortality, proportion of institutional deliveries - 3% decrease, 4% decrease and 5% increase. MP tops for full immunization coverage (6.97% increase),  Uttar Pradesh for TB treatment success rate (17.55% increase), Chhattisgarh for Maternal mortality ratio (18% increase). In terms of total, MP has highest neonatal mortality rate (35), under-five mortality (56), while Telangana tops proportion of institutional deliveries (95.3), full immunisation coverage (100%) and Chhatisgarh has the best sex ratio (958:1000)

Other factors that have been taken into consideration are: a shortfall of healthcare workers - Bihar has the highest shortfall of 41.27%, registration of births - Uttarakhand tops (100%), completeness of integrated disease surveillance program - Gujarat tops (99%). One of the key factor which has helped Kerala retain its top spot is that it allocates 7.43% of total budget to state health expenditure, while Madhya Pradesh is worst with only 4.86%. Andhra Pradesh tops in terms of functional health centres with 70.15% operational while Himachal Pradesh is worst with only 36.58% operational.

In Union territories, J&K tops full immunization coverage (100%), Puducherry tops in institutional deliveries (100%), Lakshadweep for TB treatment (94.74%). The tiny island also has the highest shortfall of healthcare workers (18.01%). Puducherry, Delhi, Chandigarh and Andaman & Nicobar have 100% registration of births and deaths.

The biggest respite for UP is that it ranks highest overall for incremental performance (2018-19 vs 2019-2020) by increasing its score by 5.51 points. UP is followed by Assam (4.35), Telangana (4.22), Maharashtra (3.6) and Jharkhand (3.35). The worst incremental change is by Karnataka (-1.37), Haryana (-0.55), Rajasthan (-0.24), Chhattisgarh (-0.09) and Himachal Pradesh (-0.06).

(Image: Niti Aayog)