National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) 2019-20 has been released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which provided data on various issues related to women in India under Phase-I. The Phase-I provides data for 22 states/UTs and the fieldwork in the remaining 14 (Phase-II) States/UTs is under progress.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. The survey provides state and national information for India on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of Family Planning, Maternal And Child Health, Reproductive Health, Nutrition, Anaemia, Utilization and Quality of Health and Family Planning Services. Each successive round of the NFHS has had two specific goals: a) to provide essential data on health and family welfare needed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other agencies for policy and programme purposes, and b) to provide information on important emerging health and family welfare issues.
Key Findings from the report published are-
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR) across most Indian states declined in the past half-a-decade, more so among urban women.
- Sikkim recorded the lowest TFR, with one woman bearing 1.1 children on average; Bihar recorded the highest TFR of three children per woman.
- More than half of the children and women are anaemic in 13 of the 22 States/UTs. It has also been observed that anaemia among pregnant women has increased. It is more common in women than in men.
- Female sterilization continues to dominate as the modern method of contraception in states like Andhra Pradesh (98%), Telangana (93%), Kerala (88%), Karnataka (84%), Bihar (78%) and Maharashtra (77%).
- Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially in most States/UTs and it is the highest in Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal (74%).
- Karnataka witnessed the largest increase in spousal violence, from 20.6% in NFHS 4 to 44.4% in NFHS-5.
- Sexual violence has increased in five states – Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and West Bengal.
- Institutional Births have increased substantially with over four-fifth of the women delivering in institutions in 19 States and UTs. Institutional delivery is over 90% in 14 out of the total 22 States and UTs.
- There has been an increase in the number of Caesarean section (C-section) deliveries in a majority of states.
Other than Women Health and Safety, other findings have also come forth with regard to children and urban-rural gap.
- The proportion of stunted children has risen in several of the 17 states and five Union territories like Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Himachal Pradesh.
- India had remarkable success in reducing stunting of growth in children from 48 per cent to 38.4 per cent.
- Telangana, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, and West Bengal saw increased levels of child stunting.
- Child Wasting reflects acute undernutrition and refers to children having low weight for their height. Telangana, Kerala, Bihar, Assam and Jammu-Kashmir witnessed an increase and Maharashtra and West Bengal have been stagnant.
- Infant Mortality Rate and Under 5 Mortality Rate data is mostly stagnant.
- There is an urban-rural gap as well as gender divide with respect to the use of the Internet in several states and union territories. On average, less than 3 out of 10 women in rural India and 4 out of 10 women in urban India ever used the Internet.
- An average 42.6% of women ever used the Internet as against an average of 62.16% among the men. In urban India, an average of 56.81% of women ever used the Internet compared to an average of 73.76% among the men.
- In Rural India a dismal 33.94% women in rural India ever used the Internet as against 55.6% among men. The percentage of women, who ever used the Internet, significantly dropped in rural India.
With reports from various organisations coming forward, a clearer picture of India and development of the country from the past few decades can be observed. It is important to track this data in order to evaluate our nation. With respect to report published by NFHS, there is a need of consolidated efforts made towards these issues especially the ones that are present since ages and are still prevalent like malnutrition and child marriage. The data in NFHS-5 gives requisite input for strengthening existing programmes and evolving new strategies for policy intervention in order to enable the government and authorities to take steps to further improve the condition of women in India.
