Background: There exists large interstate variation in health indicators related to demography, family planning, maternal care, immunization, health infrastructure, and other associated factors.
Objectives: This study envisages to assess the range of variation in health-related indicators across states and also the classification of states based on composite indices (CIs) of states as the combined effect of all these indicators.
Materials and Methods: The study is based on latest state level secondary data related to health indicators published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, and other official sources. The statistical procedure for the estimation of composite index is similar to the one developed by statisticians to classify Indian states/districts using CIs based on a set of positive (pushing factors) and negative(pulling factors) indicators. The CIs would lie between 0 and 1. The states with the value of indices close to 0 would be top performers and those close to 1 bottom performers.
Results: The top states according to the level of development in health-related indices are Goa, Kerala, Mizoram, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Manipur, the middle-level states are Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Assam, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab, and bottom states are Jharkhand, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Bihar, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Conclusions: Those states falling in top, middle, and bottom have been appearing in those classes many times for individual indicators also. Unless, the states make concerted efforts to come up for each of the indicators, cannot change the position or classes for health-related overall development.
Key words: Health Indicators; Composite Indices; Classification of Indian States
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