Why National Family Health Survey 6 is viral for data that vanished
Key points
- When factsheets of the Union government’s Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6), conducted during 2023-24, were released last week, much of the attention initially focused on the encouraging gains in child nutrition, vaccination coverage, maternal healthcare and health insurance.
- But within hours, researchers, public health experts and policy analysts were discussing something else entirely: the disappearance of dozens of long-tracked indicators from the survey’s headline data.
- Read Full Story Compared to the 131 key indicators included in NFHS-5 (conducted from 2019 to 2021), the latest factsheets contain 101 indicators.
- Missing are several measures that have traditionally been used to assess India's social and health progress, including anaemia prevalence, infant mortality, under-five mortality, neonatal mortality, sex ratio at birth, access to clean cooking fuel, sanitation coverage, HIV awareness and quality of family-planning measures.
- The omissions have triggered widespread debate among health researchers, many of whom rely on NFHS not just for national trends...
Quick Summary
When factsheets of the Union government’s Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6), conducted during 2023-24, were released last week, much of the attention initially focused on the
Why It Matters
This development is important because it may impact public opinion, policy decisions, and future developments related to Why National Family Health Survey 6 is viral for data that v.
Key Takeaways
- When factsheets of the Union government’s Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6), conducted during 2023-24, were released last week, much of the attention initially focused on the encouraging gains in child nutrition, vaccination coverage, maternal healthcare and health insurance.
- But within hours, researchers, public health experts and policy analysts were discussing something else entirely: the disappearance of dozens of long-tracked indicators from the survey’s headline data.
- Read Full Story Compared to the 131 key indicators included in NFHS-5 (conducted from 2019 to 2021), the latest factsheets contain 101 indicators.
- Missing are several measures that have traditionally been used to assess India's social and health progress, including anaemia prevalence, infant mortality, under-five mortality, neonatal mortality, sex ratio at birth, access to clean cooking fuel, sanitation coverage, HIV awareness and quality of family-planning measures.
- The omissions have triggered widespread debate among health researchers, many of whom rely on NFHS not just for national trends but district-level insights unavailable elsewhere.
📌 Source: India Today
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