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New Delhi: Health
indicators of the urban poor are worse than their rural
counterparts, a parliamentary panel has said slamming the
government for its failure to launch a key programme for the
health of nine crore people who live in slums in big towns and
cities.
With an increasing number of urban poor and few government
policies for them, the report has slammed the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare for not launching the much talked about
National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).
The programme, which has been sketched on the lines of the
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), is supposed to focus on the
healthcare needs of the urban poor. The ministry has however not
been able to start the programme because of paucity of funds.
"Presently, more than nine crore people of the country have been
identified as urban poor, mostly residing in urban slums. The
level of availability of healthcare facilities to these poor
people is worse than that available to the rural poor," a
department related parliamentary standing committee looking into
the health ministry said in its report, a copy of which is
available with IANS.
"...Their health indicators are also worse than that available to
the rural poor," the report said.
"The committee accordingly opines that non-rolling of the National
Urban Health Mission on account of no provision of funds would
further impact health indicators of poor people residing in urban
slums," it said.
India has the world's second largest urban population after China
and an estimated 80.8 million people in urban areas live below the
poverty line.
More than 50 percent of urban poor children are underweight and
almost 60 percent of urban poor children miss total immunization
before completing one year.
As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) III data, the
under five mortality rate among urban poor, at 72.7, is
significantly higher than the urban average of 51.9.
Poor environmental conditions in slums along with a high
population density makes the residents there vulnerable to lung
diseases like asthma and tuberculosis (TB). Slums also have a high
incidence of vector borne diseases (VBDs) and cases of malaria
among the urban poor are twice that among other urban residents.
The committee has recommended that the health department seek
allocation from the Planning Commission for the mission.
"...the committee recommends that the department should once again
assess its fund requirements realistically and thereafter move the
Planning Commission for augmentation of financial resources for
the health sector," the report said, adding that the committee
would like to be apprised of the follow-up action.
Health ministry officials say the programme is likely to be
implemented in the 12th plan period.
"The NUHM is to be implemented during the 12th plan period," an
official from the ministry told IANS.
"The funds are limited, but as we increase the funding in the 12th
plan to achieve the target of reaching 2.5 percent (of GDP for
health) in this plan, NUHM will also be implemented," he said.
The official did not give an exact timeframe for implementing the
programme but added that revisions would be there in terms of
coverage.
"Since the urban sum population has increased and we also have
fresh estimates from the census, there can be some revisions in
the volume of the cover," the official added.
(Anjali Ojha
can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)
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