The latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study was published in the medical journal The Lancet with the rankings for healthcare access and quality (HAQ).
What is HAQ?
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors study is done by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
It is an independent population health research centre associated with the University of Washington, along with a consortium of 2,300 researchers in more than 130 countries.
The HAQ Index is based on death rates from 32 ailments that could be avoided by timely medical intervention.
What are the findings?
In the HAQ, India has fallen 11 places, and now ranks 154 out of 195 countries.
Newborns in India have a lesser chance of survival than babies born in Afghanistan and Somalia.
Further, India’s healthcare index of 44.8 is the lowest among the sub-continental countries,
Sri Lanka (72.8), Bangladesh (51.7), Bhutan (52.7), and Nepal (50.8) all fared better.
The top-ranked nation was Andorra with an overall score of 95 and the lowest-ranked nation was Central African Republic at 29.
In the case of neonatal mortality, India scored 14/100.
Access to tuberculosis treatment in India was scored 26/100.
It is lower than Pakistan (29), Congo (30) and Djibouti (29).
For diabetes, chronic kidney diseases, and congenital heart diseases, India scored 38, 20, and 45, respectively.
India’s downward slide in the rankings indicates that it has failed to achieve health care targets, especially those concerning neonatal disorders, maternal health, tuberculosis, and rheumatic heart disease.
