Health Care in India : News & Updates

Buried underneath the farm bill, agitations of medics are going unnoticed.,

Ayush doctors were allowed to perform surgeries, scan dentistry and what not..

They will also be given MD, MS degree s..

I am Not sure why public and media houses yet voice their opinion..

I liked BJP because of defense.,
I probably going to hate it because of health sector..

Best of engineer s went away..
Now we accelerating best of docs to leave country as well..

@Falcon @randomradio @Gautam @_Anonymous_
 

Infant mortality improves in India but malnutrition gets worse​

Mortality rate among infants and those under five years of age fell in 18 states and union territories out of a total 22 surveyed, while 16 of them registered a rise in the percentage of under-five children who are underweight and severely wasted, according to the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday released the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS) which contains detailed information on population, health, and nutrition for India and its states and Union Territories.

Thirteen states and UTs out of the 22 surveyed recorded a rise in the percentage of children under five years who are stunted in comparison to 2015-16, survey data showed.

According to NFHS-5, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Telangana, Tripura, West Bengal, Lakshadweep and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu recorded a rise in the percentage of children under five years who are stunted in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16).

Twelve states and UTs out of the 22 surveyed recorded a rise in the percentage of children under five years who are wasted in comparison to NFHS-4, while two states recorded the same percentage as in NFHS-4, the data showed.

Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Telangana, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Lakshadweep showed a rise in the percentage of children under five years who are wasted, while Maharashtra and West Bengal had the same percentage, according to the data.

Sixteen states and UTs out of the 22 surveyed recorded a rise in the percentage of children under five years who are severely wasted and underweight in comparison to NFHS-4, the data showed.

Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Lakshadweep showed a rise in the percentage of under-five children who are severely wasted, the data showed.

The NFHS-5 further showed that 20 states and UTs have recorded a rise in the percentage of children under 5 years who are overweight.

According to the NFHS-5 (2019-20), sex ratio of the total population (females per 1,000 males) rose in 17 states and UTs in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16).

The states which observed a drop in sex ratio of the total population were Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The neonatal mortality rate (NMR) (per 1,000 live births) dropped in 15 states and UTs in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16), while the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the under-five mortality rate (UMR) fell in 18 states and UTs, the NFHS-5 showed.

Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu recorded rise in NMR in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16).

Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded rise in IMR and UMR in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16), it said.

The present NFHS is being conducted on 6.1 lakh sample households, involving household level interviews to collect information on population, health, family planning and nutrition related indicators.

The results of 17 states and five UTs (Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Mizoram, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu) have been released now as Phase-I.

Phase II covering the remaining 12 states and 2 UTs had their fieldwork suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been resumed from November and is expected to be completed by May, 2021, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said substantial improvement in maternal and child health indicators over NFHS-4 (2015-16) was recorded in the present survey.

The fertility rate has further declined, contraceptive use has increased and unmet need has been reduced in most Phase I states, it said.

The survey found considerable improvement in vaccination coverage among children aged 12-23 months across all states/UTs. Women's empowerment indicators, including women with bank account, also portray considerable progress, the Health Ministry said.
 
Poverty all time high specially among women and malnourishment among children's. Covid disaster that's happening right now in rural india will be this govt undoing.
 
Poverty all time high specially among women and malnourishment among children's. Covid disaster that's happening right now in rural india will be this govt undoing.
And then what ?
Which govt is going to clear these mess?
From 1947 how many Govt ruled these BIMARU states .? Why the hell they cant move even an inch ?
20.4 crore population alone in UP.
What these moronic people actually thinks ?
Only in India we can see this stupidity .

Actually who is responsible to this shitty situation in states like UP?
Blaming Yogi wont clear the issues .
The man is literally rules a Brazil 2% land but the problem is more than his age .

Only now they see sanitary facilities and good hygiene .
75 years various Govt ruled these states and nation .South Indian states , West Indian state like Gujarat was somewhat able to better in someway .
But look at Bengal ,BIMARU etc .

Idiots dont have any way stand on their own legs but increases BPL category population then Govt ,ultimately those who work like middle class takes that burden.

Its like either dissolve these nation or implement a Chinese style.
How long other Indians going to take the burden of these morons.
 
And then what ?
Which govt is going to clear these mess?
From 1947 how many Govt ruled these BIMARU states .? Why the hell they cant move even an inch ?
20.4 crore population alone in UP.
What these moronic people actually thinks ?
Only in India we can see this stupidity .

Actually who is responsible to this shitty situation in states like UP?
Blaming Yogi wont clear the issues .
The man is literally rules a Brazil 2% land but the problem is more than his age .

Only now they see sanitary facilities and good hygiene .
75 years various Govt ruled these states and nation .South Indian states , West Indian state like Gujarat was somewhat able to better in someway .
But look at Bengal ,BIMARU etc .

Idiots dont have any way stand on their own legs but increases BPL category population then Govt ,ultimately those who work like middle class takes that burden.

Its like either dissolve these nation or implement a Chinese style.
How long other Indians going to take the burden of these morons.
We cant keep persisting with ppl who fail us. Thats the tragedy that has befallen us that we simply stick to existing instead of looking for better ones. It was the same case with congress earlier too. We need to moved beyond current crop of politicians and give newcomers a chance.
Its always going to be a risk, but keeping the existing politicians is also a biggest risk we have seen earlier.

Look if we dont change the existing politicians it simply emboldens them , they know whatever happens they will get reelected. As such there would be no need for them to be accountable or responsible. At the end of the day every govt should be judged based on how they performed not by what opposition we have.
 
We cant keep persisting with ppl who fail us. Thats the tragedy that has befallen us that we simply stick to existing instead of looking for better ones. It was the same case with congress earlier too. We need to moved beyond current crop of politicians and give newcomers a chance.
Its always going to be a risk, but keeping the existing politicians is also a biggest risk we have seen earlier.

Look if we dont change the existing politicians it simply emboldens them , they know whatever happens they will get reelected. As such there would be no need for them to be accountable or responsible. At the end of the day every govt should be judged based on how they performed not by what opposition we have.

Even current crop of democratic system is useless considering the nature of these moronic people in India.
What they need is a Chinese style autocratic system .then only they will learn.
Look at the farmers protest.
If they are that much stubborn , then they must find their expense from their own state not from centre.
It was themselves that give chance to caste parties like SP,BSP.

And generally Indians are arrogant, boastful who knows only to take the pride of tgeir ancestors .
They themselves are actually next to zero
 
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The private Indian Health care sector will be and is actually , as money minded as the Rest of the Private Sector

Govt has limited resources because it has millions of things to do

Therefore Indians must Always Remember that Prevention is better than cure

 

India to have food safety label on front of packets, FSSAI decides​

 
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High levels of maternal and child under nutrition continue to plague India: UNICEF official​

How has India fared on child and maternal nutrition in recent times?​

Overall, India has made impressive gains in economic and human development in recent decades. It has transitioned from being a food-deficit nation to a self-sufficient food-producing country in the last 30 years.

However, high levels of maternal and child under nutrition continue to plague the country. Large-scale surveys like the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) and National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS) show that about one-third of children under five years of age in India are stunted, a third of them are underweight and almost two out of ten children are nutritionally wasted; many of these children suffer from multiple anthropometric deficits. The CNNS also highlight the emerging problems of overweight, obesity and micro-nutrient deficiencies.

The government has put in place several programmes to address the triple burden of malnutrition. Particularly the launch of the Poshan Abhiyan in March 2018 refocused the national development agenda on nutrition. Building in Jan Andolan, or people’s movement, into Poshan Abhiyaan further intensified regular communication on nutrition behaviours and community leadership. Very recently, in the 2021-22 Budget speech, Poshan 2.0 was announced as a next step towards addressing malnutrition in the country. However, with the spectre of COVID-19, there is a heightened risk of increasing malnutrition and parts of progress made in the past may get undone.


How is COVID-19 likely to affect nutritional interventions in India?​

Broadly, we know that the impact of COVID-19 has adversely affected access to livelihoods. The containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus threatened livelihoods, resulted in price hikes due to reduced production of goods and services, and in disruption in supply chains for many families.


Global research in 2020 on the effect of COVID-19 estimated about 14.3% increase in wasting globally. No specific data are available yet on the impact of COVID-19 on the nutritional status of the Indian population. Some data has been gathered from telephone surveys, community assessments and the Health Management Information System (HMIS) on the negative impact of COVID-19 on community food security and uptake of health, nutrition, and food security services. But these are not adequate in providing a comprehensive scenario on the potential impact of COVID-19 in the future. However, from global and India experience, it is increasingly evident how COVID-19 is interacting with under nutrition and exacerbating nutritional insecurities.

First of all, like other infections, the COVID-19 infection negatively affects the nutritional status of a child, and those with poor nutritional status are more likely to have higher risk of morbidity and mortality.

Secondly, disruption to food systems due to reduced food availability and broken supply chains, as well as dried income sources and depleted family savings is likely to have decreased financial and physical access to healthy food. As the period of pandemic prolongs, food insecurities and nutritional challenges will intensify too. It is also the compounding of such livelihood shocks due to COVID outbreaks and other factors, for example, in communities affected by floods. This will have more damaging impact on the most vulnerable communities that experience repeated natural calamities, as well the youngest children.

On completion of six months, children need nutrient dense complementary foods in addition to breast milk to adequately fuel the growth of their growing bodies and brain. Lack of adequate nutrition at this stage can irreversibly damage physical growth, mental and cognitive development as well, with lifelong adverse effects. Additionally, adequate nourishment helps boost children’s immunity. Food insecurity arising out of the pandemic may cause families to shift to cheap food with low nutritive value, causing long-term adverse impact on the cognitive development of children.

Third, health and social services such as anganwadi centres, nutrition rehabilitation centres, and village health sanitation and nutrition days (VHSND) were disrupted. As schools remained closed for a large part of 2020 and well into 2021, we also noticed that distribution of iron and folic acid tablets to children in schools was significantly reduced, and awareness campaigns in schools on nutrition were suspended. It was not until early 2021 that more and more States started opening anganwadi centres again, but centre-based activities soon were suspended due to the second wave of COVID-19.

As COVID-19 demanded extraordinary attention, health workers were diverted from nutrition programmes for contact tracing, vaccination, and other response and services. This is likely to continue as vaccination coverage for such a large population will take more time.

Fourth and most importantly, COVID-19 related priorities could threaten delivery and financing of nutrition and nutrition security responses, which we had seen in recent times, especially since the launch of the Poshan Abhiyaan. Poshan Abhiyan is a great platform and opportunity to accelerate reduction of child malnutrition in India. However, with competing priorities like the vaccination drive, there is a risk of resources and attention being diverted away, when the situation demands additional resources to accelerate multi-sectoral responses to urgently address the nutrition situation. For instance, when COVID-19 struck in March 2020, Poshan Pakhwara had to be abandoned mid-way. Community-based events have also been suspended in many States due to the pandemic. It is great to see many of them resume in the ‘Poshan Maah’ (nutrition month).

Given that the threat of subsequent COVID-19 waves looms, what do you foresee as the biggest challenge in the nutrition space?​

We fear double threats here. On the one hand, pandemic response services such as COVID-19 vaccination will need to be prioritised. However, it is important to recognise that this puts a tremendous strain on systems, capacity and resources earlier dedicated to deliver routine health, nutrition and social protection interventions. On the other hand, COVID-19 may inflict repeated shocks on families and communities. Health expenses of families and communities are going up significantly when so many people fall ill, and at the same time, their economic productivity is going down.

If it was about dealing with one shock of a COVID-19 wave of limited duration, systems, services and personnel would have found a way. But the compounding effect of repeated shocks on income and resilience might have a much more serious and longer lasting impact than we expect. Here we are not even factoring in the annual cycle of shocks that families in many parts of India face due to natural hazards such as droughts, floods and cyclones.

As Covid-19 affects resources and priorities, how should then the government address those nutrition related challenges?​

Prior to COVID-19, Poshan Abhiyan had a strong potential to significantly reduce child malnutrition in India by 2030. However, the onslaught of COVID-19 risks are significantly reducing this potential progress that Poshan Abhiyan could have yielded by 2030, unless nutrition gets back on track again among the top priorities in leadership, financing, and service delivery at all levels, from Central and State governments down to the communities.

Six areas need immediate attention. First and foremost, a strong leadership at all levels — from national to district — is essential to bring back focus to address food, income and nutritional security.

Second, uninterrupted, universal, timely and high-quality coverage of essential evidence-based nutritional services must be ensured, with special focus on children below two years of age, pregnant women and adolescent girls, which are the critical growth and development periods of life.

Thirdly, the pandemic calls for strategies adapting to COVID-19 guidelines and innovations in the service delivery mechanism. Urgent attention is needed to address food security, dietary diversity, micronutrient supplementation, social protection, economic support, gender, and financial inclusion. Keeping girls in school and delaying the age of marriage should be emphasised. The mid-day meal programme benefits should continue uninterrupted even when school services are disrupted.

Fourthly, adequate financing is needed to ensure delivery of high impact interventions, and additional financing will be required for ensuring food and nutritional security, especially for the vulnerable population groups. Accelerating fund release to States and decentralised decision making are required to improve fund utilisation. The main causes of underutilisation of funds potentially available for nutrition responses must be identified and addressed.

Multisectoral interventions that directly or indirectly impact nutrition, like health, nutrition and social protection schemes need to be delivered effectively to the same household, same woman, same child. Migrant labourers and urban poor need special focus.

Finally, nutrition needs to be retained as a key indicator for development. Regular reviews aided by robust data systems, like HMIS, Poshan Tracker, and NFHS, which track changes in coverage, continuity, intensity and quality of interventions, are essential to help identify areas where urgent actions are needed. Data quality needs to improve for better policy and programme decisions.

We must realise that COVID-19 has compounded manifold the nutrition-related challenges but giving up at this critical juncture is not an option. If children needed nutrition interventions before COVID-19, they need it much more now than ever before. For the future of children in India, stopping COVID-19 and stopping malnutrition are equally important and urgent.
 

Life expectancy in India drops by 2 years due to Covid pandemic​

A statistical analysis conducted by Mumbai's International Institute for Population Studies shows that life expectancy in India has dropped by roughly two years due to Covid-19 pandemic.

According to IIPS assistant professor Surayakant Yadav, the life expectancy at birth for men and women has declined from 69.5 years and 72 years in 2019 to 67.5 years and 69.8 respectively in 2020, reports Times of India.

'Life expectancy at birth' is defined as the average number of years that a newborn is expected to live if the mortality pattern during their birth remains constant in the future.

The study was conducted to analyse the effect of the Covid pandemic on the mortality patterns across the country, as thousands of lives were lost due to the deadly pandemic waves.

The study also found out that the Covid toll was reported to be the highest for men in the age group of 35-69. The excess deaths in this age bracket due to Covid led to a sharp drop in life expectancy.

The IIPS based its study on the data collected by the 145-nation Global Burden of Disease study and the Covid-India Application Programme Interface (API) portal.

Yadav further added, "The Covid impact has wiped out the progress we made in the last decade to increase the life expectancy figure. India's life expectancy at birth now is the same as it was in 2010. It will take us years to catch up."

However, IIPS director Dr K S James added that epidemics in the past in countries, including Africa, massively impacted life expectancy, but it recouped in a few years.
 

Over 33 lakh children in India malnourished, 17.7 lakh of them severely malnourished: Govt data​

Over 33 lakh children in India are malnourished and more than half of them fall in the severely malnourished category with Maharashtra, Bihar and Gujarat topping the list, the WCD ministry has said in response to an RTI query.

Prompting concern that the Covid pandemic could exacerbate the health and nutrition crisis among the poorest of the poor, the Women and Child Development ministry estimates that there are 17,76,902 (17.76 lakh/1.7 million) severely acute malnourished children (SAM) and 15,46,420 (15.46 lakh/1.5 million) moderately acute malnourished (MAM) children as of October 14, 2021.

The total 33,23,322 (33.23 lakh/3.3 million) is a compilation of data from 34 states and union territories, the ministry said in response to an RTI query by PTI. The numbers were registered on the Poshan tracker app developed last year as a governance tool for real-time monitoring of nutritional outcomes.


While the numbers are alarming in themselves, a comparison with figures from last November makes them even more so. A 91 per cent rise in the number of SAM children has been seen between November 2020 and October 14, 2021 — up from 9,27,606 (9.27 lakh) to 17.76 lakh now.

However, the two sets of figures are based on different methods of data collection. The number of SAM children (from six months to six years) identified last year was counted by 36 states and union territories and conveyed to the Centre. The latest figures are through the Poshan tracker where the numbers were directly entered by anganwadis and accessed by the Centre and the age group of the children has not been specified. The World Health Organisation defines SAM by very low weight-for-height or a mid-upper arm circumference less than 115 mm, or by the presence of nutritional oedema. MAM is defined as moderate wasting and/or mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) greater or equal to 115 mm and less than 125 mm.

Both MAM and SAM have severe health repercussions on the health of a child. Children suffering from SAM have very low weight for their height, and are nine times more likely to die in case of diseases due to their weakened immune system. Those suffering from MAM are also at increased risk of morbidity and mortality during childhood.

According to the RTI reply quoting the Poshan tracker, Maharashtra registered the highest number of malnourished children at 6,16,772 (6.16 lakh) with 1,57,984 (1.57 lakh) MAM children and 4,58,788 (4.58 lakh) SAM children. Number two on the list is Bihar with 4,75,824 (4.75 lakh) malnourished children (3,23,741 MAM children and 1,52,083 SAM children).
Gujarat registered the third highest number of such children at 3,20,465 (3.20 lakh) with 1,55,101(1.55 lakh) MAM children and 1,65,364 (1.65 lakh) SAM children.

Responding to the numbers, Child Rights and You (CRY) CEO Puja Marwaha said the Covid pandemic has impacted nearly all socio-economic indicators negatively and threatens to undo much of the progress made over the past decade.

“Services like ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) and midday meals in schools have become irregular during the prolonged closure of schools. These have severely affected children living in multi-dimensional poverty disproportionately, since they have been largely dependent on these services to fulfil their rights and entitlements,” Marwaha told PTI.

Unless challenges related to adequacy in budgetary allocations to secure nutrition security of children and bottlenecks in utilisation are addressed, India will be unable to mitigate the loss caused due to the pandemic, she added.

Of the other states, Andhra Pradesh registered 2,67,228 (2.76 lakh) malnourished children (69,274 MAM children and 1,97,954 SAM children) and Karnataka registered 2,49,463 (2.49 lakh) such cases (1,82,178 MAM children and 67,285 SAM children).

Uttar Pradesh has 1,86,640 (1.86 lakh) malnourished children (1,14,094 MAM children and 72,546 SAM children) while Tamil Nadu recorded 1,78,060 (1.78 lakh children (1,20,076 MAM children and 57,984 SAM children). Following close behind, Assam has 1,76,462 (1.76 lakh) cases of malnourishment (1,17,016 MAM children and 59,446 SAM children) and Telangana 1,52,524 (1.52 lakh, 95,033 MAM and 57,491 SAM children).

New Delhi is not too far behind. The combined number of SAM and MAM children in the national capital is 1,17,345 (1.17 lakh) with 20,122 MAM and 97,223 SAM children.

It is extremely important to recognise malnutrition early and to institute appropriate therapy to prevent worsening of malnutrition, said Anupam Sibal, group medical director and senior paediatrician, Apollo Hospitals Group.

“We know that children who are malnourished have a greater risk of infections, have less energy and perform less than their genetic potential in school. The management of malnutrition requires a holistic approach starting with adequate nutrition of pregnant and lactating ladies, exclusive breastfeeding for six months, focusing on appropriate weaning and balanced nutrition in the first few years of life,” Sibal told PTI.

Manish Mannan, head of department, paediatrics and neonatology, Paras Hospitals, added that children with severe acute malnutrition need to be treated with specialised therapeutic diets alongside the diagnosis and management of complications during in-patient care.

“Nutrition counselling has long been used as an approach to MAM management in situations where caregivers may have access to affordable food, and knowledge of appropriate care practices is not a constraint. This approach is predicated on the assumption that nutritious food is available, but also that caregivers do not have sufficient awareness of how to combine foods into appropriate diets for malnourished or at-risk children,” Mannan said.

It is important, he stressed, to assess any associated illness alongside treatment of malnutrition. Sometimes there is an underlying illness, which is responsible for malabsorption, a renal disorder or even diseases like diabetes and tuberculosis which may lead to malnutrition.

“Therefore, apart from diet, it is also important to look into the possible organic causes and the effects of malnutrition on the body,” he said.

The last available figure of malnourished children is from NFHS-4 (National Family Health Survey) in 2015-16 according to which 38.4 per cent of children under five years are low height-for-age and 21 per cent wasted or low weight-for-height in India. NFHS-5, released in December last year, which gave figures for 22 states and UTs also presented a grim scenario and showed that malnutrition increased among children in 2019-20 from 2015-16 in 22 states and UTs.


Also, India has slipped to the 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th and is behind its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

To tackle the high persistence of malnutrition in the country, the Centre launched the Poshan Abhiyan programme in 2018 to reduce low birth weight, stunting and undernutrition and anaemia among children, adolescent girls and women.


According to Census 2011, there are over 46 crore children in the country.
 

NFHS5 is a mixed bag of pluses and minuses for India under the NDA government​

The latest nutritional indicators released in the National Family Health Survey (NHFS) 5 report are a miscellany of pluses and minuses.

In four out of five years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s first term, India slipped on some malnutrition parameters for young children and women, including prevalence of anaemia, reversing gains made previously. On some other indicators, the country appears to have improved. The incidence of stunting (low height for age) and wasting (low weight for height) has declined, for instance.


NFHS5 shows that the incidence of anaemia in young children has increased alarmingly; more than one in three children up to five years of age suffer from anaemia. Under-five anaemia was prevalent among 58.6 percent of children in 2015-16, 67.1 percent are now anaemic. Anaemia refers to deficiency of haemoglobin, resulting in fatigue and pallor.

Also, the proportion of women (15-49 years of age) who are anaemic has grown — from 53.1 percent to 57 percent — during this five-year period. The percentage of pregnant women (15-49 years) who are anaemic has increased to 52.2 percent from 50.4 percent.

In some states, incidence of anaemia and stunting have both increased during these five years. Take the example of Assam, a state with alarming parameters. Every third woman between 15 and 49 years is now anaemic versus 49 percent earlier; every fifth child under five is wasted versus 17 percent earlier.

During the same five-year period, however, some other child malnutrition indicators have improved at the national level. A lower percentages of children are now stunted or wasted although the number of severely wasted has risen.​


Impact of the pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic and consequent losses to the economy were widely expected to exacerbate hunger in 2019-21. But the Union Budget for 2021-22 did not enhance allocations for flagship central schemes to address child malnutrition as well as for schemes promoting nutrition for pregnant and lactating mothers. Instead, the Budget merged some flagship schemes, making it near impossible to determine scheme-wise allocations. Allocations for some of these schemes were cut.

Dipa Sinha, assistant professor of economics at Ambedkar University and also associated with the Right to Food Campaign (RFC), said that even the improved nutrition indicators (stunting and wasting) are no cause for celebration.

“The target under the government’s Poshan Abhiyan was to reduce stunting by two percentage points per annum. That has clearly not happened. Even the pace of reduction seen in NFHS5 has slowed compared to NFHS 3 and NFHS4. Will have to look at state-wise data for further analysis,” she noted.

An earlier analysis by RFC had shown that the combined budget for nutrition schemes – Umbrella Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Aanganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and the National Crèche Scheme – for 2021-22 had been slashed by more than a fifth to Rs 20,105 crore from Rs 24,557.4 crore in 2020-21.

All these schemes have been clubbed under Saksham, making year wise allocation comparisons tough.

Worrying trends

The ICDS, for example, is a flagship scheme to provide health, nutrition and education to children under six years of age and lactating women through Aanganwadis.

Another flagship scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), entitles pregnant and lactating women to Rs 5,000 for their first born.

The reduction in budgetary allocations after the pandemic happened as a worrying trend in actual utilisation of the monies in 2020-21 was evident. The revised estimates for ICDS-Aanganwadi Services, for example, show that utilisation was about 16 percent less; utilisation under the Poshan Abhiyan has been less than a sixth of the allocation at just Rs 600 crore (Rs 3,700 crore) and just a fifth of the Rs 250 crore allocated for adolescent girls has been used. Ditto for PMMVY, where just about 50 percent of the Rs 2,500 crore allocation in 2020-21 has been used.

Sinha said that in many ways, the Poshan Abhiyan has not taken off as spending remains below par.


“Only two aspects under this Abhiyan have actually happened. One, a campaign towards behaviour change for eating healthier diets and two, introduction of smart phones to Aanganwadi workers for monitoring the progress under the programme. Smart phones are a good idea but because of software glitches, real -time data gathering is still not happening,” Sinha said.

Yet another worrying trend seen in NFHS5 is the rising proportion of women, men and children who are overweight. At an all-India level, nearly every fourth women was found to be overweight or obese against every fifth earlier; nearly 23 percent men were also overweight or obese versus just about 19 percent earlier. Children under five who were overweight accounted for 3.4 percent against 2.1 percent earlier.