Health Index 2019 has been released by NITI Aayog and the results are nothing less than shocking. It is quite amazing to see that some smaller states and Union territories are flaringly quite well in terms of health parameters. But when the same is compared to some of the larger states then the results are not at all positive.
When states like Uttar Pradesh which has huge state funds and which is in the center of political unrest has been failing since last some years. Uttar Pradesh has a low score of 28.61 whereas Kerala which is the leader since some years has been scoring 74.01.
Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are also closely following Kerala in this. And a close observation has shown that most of the health efforts are driven by the state. There are private players but when you talk about scale then state plays a major role. So, what needs to be done here is that public health should step up. It is very important for public health to come up and take care of the public else the efforts couldn’t be ascertained.
The NITI Aayog is a strong component which is based on a number of parameters. Neonatal health, child mortality, fertility rate, low birth weight, and immunization coverage are some of the major factors which take part in this. All these factors together contribute to the cause.
Some State Government initiatives like Ayushman Bharat are only working at places where the public health system is active and working efficiently.
So, now we hope that the State Governments makes a note of what is going to give them a better ranking in Health index.