India's Health Survey Omits Key Data

India's latest health survey, NFHS-6, has omitted significant data points concerning population health, family planning, and the reach of central government schemes. The factsheet, released on May 29, contains fewer indicators than its predecessor, NFHS-5. These omissions include critical information on sex ratios, mortality rates, sanitation access, and clean cooking fuel. Additionally, data on women's health, contraceptive use, and out-of-pocket expenses for deliveries are now absent.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sources stated that the deletions are intended for 'data harmonisation,' aiming to avoid redundancy with data reported in other government surveys. For instance, information on sanitation and cooking fuel will reportedly be found in separate reports for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan and Ujjwala Yojana. Similarly, birth and death registration data are available in the Sample Registration Survey.

The NFHS-6 factsheet also lacks data on cancer screening for cervical, breast, and oral cancers, despite efforts to upgrade primary health centres. Information on HIV awareness and indicators of obesity like waist-to-hip ratio have also been removed. Data on anaemia measurement was also pre-emptively announced as excluded due to methodological concerns, with findings expected from another survey.