Health dept blames discrepancies for TN’s fall

Chennai: The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), has released the latest health report rankings of the states in the country.  In a surprise finding, Tamil Nadu which stood third in 2015- 2016 ranking has slipped to the ninth position and has been replaced by Maharashtra.

NITI Aayog, dubbed as the 'think tank' of the government of India was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. Constituted to replace the Planning Commission instituted in 1950, it provides both directional and policy inputs for the Government of India and relevant technical advice to the states and centre.

"Healthy States, Progressive India" - a campaign spearheaded by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with technical assistance from the World Bank aims to report the progress of states in the healthcare sector. The committee considers 23 indicators including neonatal mortality rate, immunization coverage, the sex ratio at birth. a composite health index is calculated based on which the states are ranked.

The report found Kerela, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to be the top three best performing states while Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha were judged as the worst performing states. Punjab and Tamil Nadu which held second and third positions the previous year were knocked off to fifth and ninth positions respectively.

Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar said, "I would suggest the health departments of every state to monitor everything. They should learn from other states that are progressing with a perfect success rate.

 Tamil Nadu, considered a pioneer in the healthcare sector, recorded the largest decline in the rankings this year. Many health experts of the state say discrepancies in data and faulty interpretation is to be blamed for the state's dismal rankings.

Addressing the media at the inauguration of TAEI (Tamilnadu accident and emergency care initiative)TN Health minister Vijayabaskher said,". The report says T.N. has 80% institutional deliveries, and the remaining 20% deliver at home. 99 % of deliveries in the state take place in hospitals. We will discuss this with the centre".

Dr G.R Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctors Association for Social Equality says," the NITI Aayog report though authentic is not totally accurate. Tamilnadu, a state which held the third position last time has been pushed down to the ninth spot. The drastic fall comes in such a short period of time that it is somewhat 'contradictory' to the first year's results. The committee has taken the help several foreign agencies to arrive at this report. The regional knowledge (regarding the condition and facilities available in the states, as well as the ground reports) that these officials possess is again questionable. But the NITI Aayog's findings cannot be ignored completely. It is true that a section of people have switched to home delivery and a few anti-vaccination campaigns are taking place. Community health care centres and emergency centres need to be improved. The government needs to pay heed to these issues immediately."