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Just a couple of days after a study was published in The Lancet journal, placing India in an embarrassing 143rd slot among 188 countries in terms of progress in health, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday announced that it would soon launch a Mission Parivar Vikas to promote family planning.
The new ‘Mission’ will be targeted at family planning in 145 districts in the seven high-focus States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Assam, which make up for 44 per cent of the country’s population.
UN health goalsFamily planning, as an effort to control population, was one of the UN’s health goals as part of the sustainable development goals.
The study published in The Lancet showed the progress made globally on these goals. India’s performance lagged behind not just the developed nations but also developing neighbours such as Sri Lanka and China. Only 45 countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, fell behind India.
India has specifically been struggling with these seven States, where health and education standards lag behind the rest of the country. High population density, coupled with low levels of education and poor infrastructure have resulted in these States being at the forefront of a number of health concerns, including high maternal and infant mortality, high incidents of infectious diseases and others.
Population burdenThe country, currently the second most populous in the world and expected to become the most populated by 2022, intends to reduce the TFR, or the average number of children per woman, to 2.1 by 2025 to curb the rising population that is also putting pressure on natural resources, such as water.
“Recent data suggest that these 145 districts have TFR of more than or equal to 3 (56 per cent of the 261 districts in the 7 States) and are home to 28 per cent of India’s population (about 33 crore). However, only 22 per cent of India’s protected couples and 40 per cent of India’s couples with unmet need reside in these districts.
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