Union Health Ministry releases NFHS-5 Phase II Findings

What is the news?

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has released the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) that belongs to phase-2 states along with all-India data.

States covered in NFHS-5 phase II

Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

About NFHS and findings of NFHS-5 Phase I

Read here: What is National Family Health Survey (NFHS)?

What are the key findings of NFHS-5 Phase II?

Total Fertility Rates (TFR): Declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level. All Phase-II States have achieved replacement level of fertility (2.1) except Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR): Increased from 54% to 67% at an all-India level and in almost all Phase-II States/UTs with an exception of Punjab.

Full immunization drive: Improved among children aged 12-23 months from 62% (NFHS-4) to 76% at an all-India level.

This increase is attributed to the flagship initiative of Mission Indradhanush launched by the government since 2015.

Institutional births: Increased substantially from 79% to 89% at all-India levels. Institutional delivery is 100% in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu and more than 90 per cent in 7 States/UTs out of 12 Phase II States/UTs.

There has also been a substantial increase in C-section deliveries in many States/UTs, especially in private health facilities.

Child Nutrition: When compares to NFHS-4, 1. Stunting – declined from 38.4% to 35.5%, 2. Wasting declined from 21% to 19.3%, 3. Underweight – declined from 35.8% to 32.1% and 4. Overweight –  Increased from 2.1% to 3.4%. Further, breastfeeding is also shown an improvement from 55% in 2015-16 to 64% in 2019-21.

Child marriage: Declined from 27% to 23% in the last five years. West Bengal and Bihar had the highest prevalence of girl child marriage, and this has remained unchanged since the NFHS-4.

Anaemia: More than half of the children and women (including pregnant women) are anaemic in all the phase-II States/UTs and all-India levels compared to NFHS4.

Assam is among the worst-performing states, with a huge spike in anaemic cases.

Women’s empowerment: Significant progress has been recorded between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 in regard to women operating bank accounts from 53% to 79% at an all-India level.

What are the significant things to consider from NFHS-5 Survey?

Achievement of TFR is a significant feat for the country’s family-planning programme. But, the onus of family planning still lies with women. This is visible from an increase in female sterilisation and stagnated male sterilisation.

An increase in people with overweight highlights the very large burden of NCD and diet-related diseases.

Anaemia among children and women continues to be a cause of concern.

Source: This post is based on the following articles

• “Union Health Ministry releases NFHS-5 Phase II Findings” published in PIB on 24th November 2021.
• “More hospital births, but limited gains in childhood nutrition: National Family Health Survey-5” published in The Hindu on 24th November 2021.
• “Fertility rate falls to below replacement level, signals population is stabilising” published in Indian Express on 25th November 2021.
• “Health survey shows anaemia a concern across age groups in children, women” published in Indian Express on 25th November 2021.
• “Anaemia in women and children on the rise, Assam fares worst: NFHS-5” published in DTE on 24th November 2021.
• “For first time, India’s fertility rate below replacement level” published in TOI on 25th November 2021.
• “Anaemia, malnutrition key concerns in NFHS-5 survey” published in Livemint on 25th November 2021.