Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The report -“World Health Statistics 2019 – Monitoring Health for the SDGs” published by World Health Organisation is intended to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As per the said report, globally the disparities in health, survival and longevity depends on access to food, safe drinking water, sanitation, medical care and other basic human needs, as well as behavioural choices and societal contexts that affect the survival of individuals. According to the report, global life expectancy at birth (for both sexes combined) has increased by 5.5 years, from 66.5 years in 2000 to 72 years in 2016.
Union Health & Family Welfare Ministry has taken various measures to provide better health services to ensure healthy life and to further improve the average life expectancy of the people in the country. In order to mitigate the effect of increasing burden of diseases associated with increased life expectancy, National Health Mission has initiated various programmes like National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS), National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI), National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), National Programme for Healthcare of Elderly (NPHCE), National Programme for the Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD) etc.
The Ayushman Bharat effort, with its two components of Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), addresses disparity in access and reduces out of pocket expenditure for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation for 40% of India’s population. The scheme provides hospital care for about 1,350 illnesses at secondary and tertiary level empanelled public and private hospitals. HWC encourages healthy choices and behaviours including Yoga and other physical activities.
National Health Mission (NHM) is creating a network of 1,50,000 HWCs by upgrading existing Sub Centres (SCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to provide Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC), which is universal and free to all those who access public health facilities. The CPHC basket of services cover 12 key service areas, which go beyond the Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) services to include screening and care for NCDs etc, according to a PIB release.
National Health Policy, 2017, also emphasises on provision of availability of free, comprehensive primary health care services, for all aspects of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health and for the most prevalent communicable, non-communicable and occupational diseases in the population.
| Countries | Life Expectancy at Birth
(Both Sexes) (2016) |
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) per 1,00,000 live births (2015) | Under 5 Mortality Rate(U5MR) per 1,000 live births (2017) | Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) per 1,000 live births (2017) |
| Bangladesh | 72.7 | 176 | 32 | 18 |
| Nepal | 70.2 | 258 | 34 | 21 |
| India | 68.8 | 174 | 39 | 24 |