Third National Family Health Survey: Preliminary Findings Released

August 17, 2006

NEW DELHI – The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released today the preliminary findings of the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) for five Indian states, including Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Punjab. The report was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development, United Kingdom, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF and UNFPA.

Speaking on the occasion, George Deikun, USAID India Mission Director, said: “Health programs of all NFHS-3 collaborating partners support India’s initiatives to improve the health of its citizens and raise their quality of life and productivity for a brighter future for families in the country. NFHS is playing a key role in India to facilitate evidence-based decision making and results-driven programming.”

The 2005-06 NFHS-3 is the third in a series of NFHS surveys. The first two surveys, in 1992-93 (NFHS-1) and 1998-99 (NFHS-2), were the result of a successful Indian Government and USAID partnership. Estimates provided by NFHS are considered to be the gold standard for population, health and nutrition information in India. The surveys have been extensively used to formulate health policies and track the progress of health programs.

The scope of NFHS-3 is wider and will provide information about women aged 15 to 49 and men aged 15 to 54 for every state and for eight large and medium-sized cities. For the first time, detailed information on HIV/AIDS, including HIV-prevalence for five high-prevalence states and Uttar Pradesh will be provided.

NFHS-3 preliminary findings for the five states indicate that the two-child family is becoming more popular. The average number of children per woman has declined in the last seven years in all five states as a result of increasing use of modern contraception and a rising age at marriage. Though about 90% of women are receiving some antenatal care during pregnancy, only 55-75% of women receive antenatal care at least three times during their pregnancies, as is recommended. Institutional births have steadily increased in all five states except Chhattisgarh, where there has been only a marginal increase in the last seven years.

Though impressive gains in child immunization coverage have been made in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, there has been a substantial deterioration in full immunization coverage in Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat. Children who die in the first year of life has dropped substantially in the last seven years in all five states. Nevertheless, 7% of children in Orissa and Chhattisgarh still die before reaching their first birthday.

The statistics for the remaining 24 states are expected to be available by the end of 2006.

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