The total fertility rate (TFR)went down from 2.7 in the last survey undertaken in 2015-16, to 2.4 in the state. While it is still above the national average of 2, the decline in UP was higher, showing promise. This was also due to an increase in the use of any method of family planning that increased from 45.5% to 62%. “This is an encouraging result as population is a key hindrance in delivery of healthcare services and the ratio of health service providers versus population is very skewed in UP,” Mita Priyadarshini, CEO at Research and Development Initiative that undertakes market and social research, told ET. Female sterilisation, however, said Maheshwari, was an area of concern in the state, actually falling from 17.3% to 16.9%, and being much behind the national average of 38%. While immunisation of children aged 12-23 months increased substantially from 51% to 70%, an equally encouraging finding was the percentage of children who got their vaccines at public healthcare facilities, where UP equalled the national figure of 94.5%. A boost for the state’s public healthcare system also came from a more than 10% increase in institutional births in a public facility while the percentage of health workers who spoke to females about family planning also nearly doubled.
In the segment of population diagnosed with anaemia which was seen as a national concern, the state defied national trend for all categories of adults, showing a decline in prevalence compared to the last survey, however, the percentage of children diagnosed with anaemia increased.
In the area of child nutrition, while there was a negligible decline in percentage of children under five who were wasted, or whose weight was less according to their height, the percentage of children who were “severely wasted” actually increased from 6% to 7.3%. UP also has a higher percentage of stunted children compared to the national average even as the percentage declined by 6% since the last survey.
For all the latest world News Click Here
