Kerala Continues to Lead The Way in Healthcare, Says This NITI Aayog Report

By Rinchen Norbu Wangchuk

February 10, 2018

Kerala tops the healthcare charts followed by Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

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Kerala is the best performer on healthcare, and Uttar Pradesh stands among the worst, according to the NITI Aayog’s health index, which is a report by the leading government think tank.

As per the Healthy States Progressive Report presented by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Kerala topped the charts followed by Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh. Bigger states like Rajasthan, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and UP are struggling at the bottom of the rankings, while the likes of Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur were the best performing small states. Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, and Delhi topped the UT rankings.

Addressing a gathering in the national capital during the release of this report, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant spoke of how the think-tank’s findings were based on a thorough assessment of health indicators in these states and inputs from the Ministry of Health and the World Bank.

“The health index has been evolved through comprehensive study and inputs from World Bank and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” he said, adding that, “The study of the incremental performance of states will ensure we can better assess health outcomes.”

For representational purposes (Source: Flickr/JP Davidson)

In terms of annual incremental performances across indicators such Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR), Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR), full immunisation coverage, institutional deliveries, and People Living with HIV (PLHIV) on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), states like UP and Jammu & Kashmir did the best.

Having said that, it’s easier for States with low scores in healthcare indicators to notch up better incremental gains, while those on the top have a harder time maintaining their performance.

“By June this year, we will take out the ranking of 730 district hospitals based on performance. We want to encourage the good performers and name and shame those who don’t,” Kant added.

“The Health Index is a weighted composite index, which for the larger states is based on indicators in three domains — health outcomes (70%), governance and information (12%), and key inputs and processes (18%) — with each domain assigned a weight based on its importance,” reports The Indian Express.