Kerala best state on health parameters, UP worst in NITI Aayog Health Index

Government think tank NITI Aayog's fourth Health Index release on Monday stated that in terms of the overall health performance among larger states, Kerala emerged as the top performer in again, while Uttar Pradesh ranked the last.

The report, however, added that Uttar Pradesh topped in terms of incremental performance by registering the highest incremental change from the base year (2018-19) to reference year (2019-20).

The fourth round of the Health Index took into account the period 2019-20 (reference year).

The report also highlighted that Tamil Nadu and Telangana have emerged as the second and third best performers, respectively, on health parameters. Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra also came in top five.

Additionally, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were the second and third worst performers, respectively, on health parameters.

Among the smaller states, Mizoram emerged as the best performer in overall performance as well as incremental performance, while among UTs, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir ranked among the bottom UTs in terms of overall performance but emerged as the leading performer in terms of incremental performance.

Furthermore, Kerala has emerged as the best state in terms of health performance for the fourth time.

Southern states Kerala and Tamil Nadu were top two performers in terms of overall performance with the highest reference year (2019-20) index scores but ranked twelfth and eighth respectively in terms of incremental performance.

Telangana performed well both in terms overall performance as well as incremental performance and secured the third position in both instances.

It pointed out that Rajasthan was the weakest performer both in terms of overall performance and incremental performance.

In the case of smaller states, Mizoram and Tripura registered strong overall performance, and at the same time showed improvements in incremental performance, the report added.

‘States are beginning to take cognizance of indices such as the State Health Index and use them in their policymaking and resource allocation. This report is an example of both competitive and cooperative federalism,’ said NITI's VC Dr Rajiv Kumar.

‘Our objective through this index is to not just look at the states’ historical performance but also their incremental performance. The index encourages healthy competition and cross-learning among States and UTs,’ said CEO Amitabh Kant. 

As per the report, the health index is a weighted composite score incorporating 24 indicators covering key aspects of health performance.

It said health index comprises select indicators in three domains --health outcomes, governance and information, and key inputs and processes.

The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with technical assistance from the World Bank.