Health minister releases 5th National Family Health Survey for 17 states, 5 UTs

Health minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday launched the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS) which accommodates detailed data on inhabitants, well being and diet for India and its states and union territories.

A well being ministry launch mentioned that this can be a globally vital information supply as it’s corresponding to Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) Programme of 90 different nations on a number of key indicators and can be utilized for cross nation comparisons and growth indices.

The current NFHS is being performed on 6.1 lakh pattern households, involving family degree interviews to gather data on inhabitants, well being, household planning and nutrition-related indicators.

The outcomes of 17 States and 5 UTs (Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Mizoram, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu) have been launched Phase-I.

Phase II masking the remaining 12 States and a couple of UTs had their fieldwork suspended as a result of Covid-19, which has been resumed from November and is predicted to be accomplished by May 2021.

Substantial enchancment in maternal and baby well being indicators over NFHS-4 (2015-16) was recorded within the current survey, the discharge mentioned.

It mentioned the fertility charge has additional declined, contraceptive use has elevated and unmet want has been diminished in most part I states.

The survey discovered appreciable enchancment in vaccination protection amongst youngsters age 12-23 months throughout all states and UTs.

Women’s empowerment indicators (together with girls with checking account) additionally painting appreciable progress, the discharge mentioned.

The minister additionally chaired an occasion to mark Universal Health Coverage Day.

Speaking on the event, he mentioned that Covid-19 has tremendously magnified the necessity for constructing resilient well being care techniques and making certain their indiscriminate, equitable entry to all.

“We must do away with the status quo that got us here and settle for nothing less than strong health systems that protect everyone — now and in the future. It has been my long-standing belief that India has the ability to deliver to the world, a robust model for providing universal health coverage,” he mentioned.

Lauding the management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his conception and implementation of Ayushman Bharat, the minister mentioned that the programme launched in 2018 has fully revolutionized major, secondary and tertiary healthcare system within the nation, with a robust concentrate on preventive healthcare.

The minister famous that by way of the 2 wings of Ayushman Bharat, the Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), the federal government has been making high quality healthcare inexpensive and accessible for crores of individuals within the nation.

“We have made remarkable progress in operationalizing Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centers and crossed a major landmark in our journey. With 51,500 centres now functional, more than one-thirds of the target has been met. This has led to improved access to affordable primary healthcare services for more than 25 crore people,” he mentioned.

The minister mentioned that the federal government’s purpose to ascertain 1.5 lakh such centres by December 2022. “This also includes 12,500 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centers being set up by Ministry of AYUSH.”

The Union well being minister famous that greater than 1.45 crore cashless remedies have been supplied to the poorest residents underneath AB-PMJAY and mentioned the programme was an enormous supply of help and safety for thousands and thousands of households reeling underneath the stress of great sickness.

The minister additionally launched some resourceful apps and pointers for implementing and monitoring varied well being programmes.

This contains SDG-3 Health Dashboard would allow policymakers and programme implementers to determine key priorities areas that require motion and in framing future motion plan for reaching Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

He additionally launched a compendium of Health and Wellness Centers Operationalization which supplies an summary of the progress and achievement over the past two years in operationalizing Health and Wellness Centers throughout the nation underneath the Ayushman Bharat program.

The minister lauded major well being care employees who’ve been on the forefront of the battle towards Covid-19 for rising to the unprecedented problem and for persevering with to serve the society selflessly.