UPSC Articles
Oxfam report highlights sharp inequalities in health indicators
Part of: GS Prelims and GS – II – Health
In news According to the report titled “India Inequality Report 2021: India’s Unequal Healthcare Story” by Oxfam India, sharp inequalities exist across different caste, religious, class and gender categories on various health indicators.
- The findings are primarily based on secondary analysis from rounds 3 and 4 of the National Family Health Survey and various rounds of the National Sample Survey.
What are the key findings of the Report?
- On most health determinants, interventions and indicators: General category is better off than the SCs and STs, Hindus are better off than Muslims, the rich are better off than the poor, men are better off than women, and the urban population is better off than the rural population.
- Women’s literacy has improved across social groups over the years.
- SC and ST women lag behind the general category by 18.6% and 27.9%, respectively.
- Though the female literacy rate among Muslims (64.3%) is lower than all religious groups, inequality has reduced over time.
- Sanitation: 65.7% households have access to improved, non-shared sanitation facilities in the general category while SC households are 28.5% behind them and ST are 39.8% behind them.
- The share of institutional deliveries in India has increased from 38.7% in 2005-06 to 78.9% in 2015-16, but inequalities persist with ST households 15% below the general category, Muslims 12% behind Hindus and a 35% gap between the poorest and richest 20% of the population.
News Source: TH
