New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) The Indian population has gainednearly a decade of life expectancy since 1990, but with vastinequalities between states, ranging from 66.8 years in UttarPradesh to 78.7 years in Kerala for women, according to studypublished today in The Lancet Journal.
The study is the first comprehensive analysis of thehealth of India's 1.34 billion citizens - encompassing almosta fifth of the world's population.
It estimates the key drivers of ill health, disability,and premature death in all 29 states, many of which havepopulations the size of large countries, and include peoplefrom over 2,000 different ethnic groups.
The researchers divided India's states into four groupsaccording to their level of development or epidemiologicaltransition, using the ratio of illness and premature deathcaused by communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritionaldiseases (CMNNDs) versus non-communicable diseases (NCDs) andinjuries as an indicator.
"Individual states in India are in different phases ofepidemiological transition, and this has resulted in wideinequalities in the magnitude and progress against variousdiseases and their causes," said Lalit Dandona, from thePublic Health Foundation of India in Gurugram.
"Rather than taking a more generic approach, these newestimates will be crucial to steering health policy to takeaccount of specific health problems and risks in each state,and ultimately achieving the government's vision of assuringhealth for all," said Dandona, who led the study.
The Indian population has gained nearly a decade of lifeexpectancy since 1990, rising to 66.9 years in men and 70.3years in women.
However, there are wide inequalities between states, withlife expectancy for women ranging from 66.8 years in UttarPradesh to 78.7 years in Kerala.
Since 1990, India has made substantial gains in health,with the overall health loss from all diseases and conditionsabout one-third less per person in 2016 than in 1990.
However, progress has been mixed, with greaterimprovements in states at the most advanced phases ofdevelopment (eg, Kerala and Goa), compared to those in theearlier stages (eg, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and several otherpoorer north Indian states).
Child health remains a particular concern, with highlevels of neonatal and under-5 disease relative to other agegroups.
The under-5 mortality rate has reduced substantiallysince 1990 in all states, but rates in Assam and Uttar Pradeshare four times higher than in Kerala, indicating major healthinequalities.
The burden from CMNNDs has decreased. Yet, diseases thatprimarily cause illness and death in children and motherscontinue to dominate in the country.
Lower respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases werethe 3rd and 4th leading causes of health loss in 2016,accounting for about 9 per cent of all premature death and illhealth.
Moreover, there are wide differences between states interms of overall progress.
Despite signs of progress, several CMNNDs includingdiarrhoeal diseases, iron-deficiency anaemia, and tuberculosisstill cause a disproportionate amount of ill health, and claimmore lives, than is expected for India's stage of development,particularly in states in the early stages of epidemiologicaltransition.
As a result of urbanisation and ageing, the burden ofNCDs is large and rapidly rising in all states.
The fastest-growing causes of ill-health over the last 26years were diabetes (increased by 174 per cent) and ischaemicheart disease (up 104 per cent).
Rapid urbanisation is responsible for rising deaths andhealth loss from road injuries in most states since 1990,highlighting the lack of a comprehensive national policy forinjury prevention, researchers said. PTI MHN SARMHN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.