The National Report of the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)– National Family Health Survey 2019–21 (NFHS-5), was released by Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India (GoI) at the ‘Swasthya Chintan Shivir’ held in Ekta Nagar(previously known as Kevadia), Gujarat.
The primary objective of the NFHS-5 is to provide essential data on health and family welfare, as well as data on emerging areas in India, such as demographic characteristics, fertility, family planning, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health, nutrition and anaemia, morbidity and healthcare, women’s empowerment, and so on.
- The national report also provides data by socioeconomic and other background variables that are useful for policy formulation and programme implementation.
National Family Health Survey (NFHS):
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a multi-round, large-scale survey that is conducted in a representative sample of households across India.
NFHS So Far: NFHS-1 Was Held In 1992–93 And Included All States Except Sikkim; NFHS-2 was held in 1998–99 and included all states; NFHS-3 was held in 2005–06; and NFHS-4 was held in 2015-16.
Nodal Agency: The MoHFW designated the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in Mumbai as the nodal agency for all rounds of NFHS, with responsibility for survey coordination and technical guidance.
- Technical assistance for the NFHS was provided mainly by ICF (United States of America) through the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program, which is funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other organizations on specific issues.
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-21
i.In India, 17 field agencies conducted NFHS-5 fieldwork in two phases, collecting data from 636,699 households in 707 districts (as of March 2017) across 28 states and 8 Union Territories (UTs), encompassing 7,24,115 women and 1,01,839 men to provide disaggregated estimates up to district level.
- Phase-I from 17th June 2019 to 30th January 2020 covering 17 states and 5 UTs &
- Phase-II from 2nd January 2020 to 30th April 2021 covering 11 states and 3 UTs
ii.The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India provided funding for NFHS-5.
Click here for Official Report
iii. Extended Range of NFHS-5: In comparison to an earlier round of the survey (NFHS-4), the scope of NFHS-5 has been expanded by including new dimensions such as death registration, pre-school education, expanded domains of child immunization, components of micronutrients for children, menstrual hygiene, frequency of alcohol and tobacco use, additional non-communicable disease (NCD) components, and an expanded age range for measuring hypertension and diabetes among all aged 15 years and above.
iv.NFHS-5 provides information on key indicators that can be used to track the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in India, and also provides data for around 34 SDG indicators at various levels.
Some Of the Key Findings Of NFHS-5: In Comparison With NFHS-4
i.The Total Fertility Rates (TFR), an average number of children per woman, has dropped from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between NFHS-4 & 5.
- Only five states in India have fertility levels above the replacement level of fertility of 2.1. They are Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17).
ii.Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in India has increased significantly from 54% to 67%.
iii. Institutional births have increased substantially in India, from 79% to 89%. Even in rural areas, roughly 87% of births take place in a hospital, compared to 94% in urban ones.
iv.In NFHS-5, more than three-fourths (77%) of children aged 12–23 months were fully immunized, compared to 62% in NFHS-4.
- Odisha (91%), Tamil Nadu (89%), and West Bengal (88%) have shown relatively higher immunization coverage.
v.In 2019–21, stunting is more common among children in rural areas (37%) than in urban areas (30%). Variation in stunting ranges from the lowest in Puducherry (20%) and highest in Meghalaya (47%).
vi.Between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5, the usage of clean cooking fuel (44% to 59%) and better sanitation facilities (49% to 70%) have shown progress.
New Dimensions In NFHS-6 (2023-24) – NFHS-5 As A Model
i.NFHS-6, which will take place in 2023–24, seeks to cover a number of additional domain areas, including: COVID-19 hospitalization and distress financing, COVID-19 vaccinations, Director Benefit Transfers (DBT), Migration, and Utilization of health services etc.
ii.The NFHS-6 will adopt Urban Frame Survey (UFS, 2012-17) of National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) as a sampling frame for urban area.
Rural Health Statistics publication for the year 2020-21 (RHS 2020-21)
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has also launched the Rural Health Statistics publication for the year 2020–21 (RHS 2020–21), as on 31 March 2021, on the occasion of Chintan Shivir.
- It is an important source of information about health infrastructure and human resources accessible in all states and UTs’ public health institutions.
Key Findings: According to RHS 2020–21, India’s rural and urban areas have 157819 Sub Centres (SC), 30579 Primary Health Centres (PHCs), and 5951 Community Health Centres (CHCs). Apart from that, India has a total of 1224 Sub Divisional/Sub District Hospitals and 764 District Hospitals (DHs).
Progress of Rural Health Statistics Publication
The MoHFW has been publishing the Rural Health Statistics (RHS) publication since 1992.
- It contains vital information about the human resources and health infrastructure available in India’s public health facilities as of March 31st of every year.
- From 2018-19 onwards, data on urban health components has been incorporated in the publication.
RHS makes it easier to find new resources for better public health management. Policy planners, researchers, NGOs, and other stakeholders use the data extensively for decision-making and policy intervention.
14th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW):
Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), presided over the “Swasthya Chintan Shivir” – the 14th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW), an apex advisory body of MoHFW, at Ekta Nagar (previously known as Kevadia) in Gujarat.
- The NQAS (Net Quality Assurance Standards) portal of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis portal were also launched at the event.
About the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW):
Union Minister – Mansukh Mandaviya (Rajya Sabha – Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS) – Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar (Dindori Constituency, Maharashtra)
Departments under MoHFW – Department of Health & Family Welfare; Department of Health Research
