Task force on Sustainable Development Goal-3 formed: Govt

The Health Ministry has set up a National Task Force on Sustainable Development Goal-3, which seeks to ensure health and well-being for all, to provide technical support to states, the government said today.
This comes after a study, 'Measuring the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries' published in medical journal 'The Lancet', placed India at 143rd position.
"The study titled - Measuring the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries: a baseline analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 - placed India at 143rd position.
"The paper stated that statistical methods were applied to systematically compiled data to estimate the performance of 33 health-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for 188 countries from 1990 to 2015," Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

She said that the SDG-3 of health and well being of all ages was "in sync" with the vision of the proposed National Health Policy and National Health Mission.
"Though the SDG 3 of 'health and well-being of all at all ages' is in sync with the vision of proposed National Health Policy and National Health Mission (NHM). A national task force on SDG 3 has been set up by the Ministry not only to deliberate on policy and strategy but also provide technical support and guidance on SDGs to the states," she said.
She said that certain key health indicators of India in comparison to some developing countries including Bhutan and Sri Lanka were brought out by UNICEF in its report, titled 'The state of the world's children 2016', according to which the life expectancy at birth in 2015 in India was 68, while Infant Mortality Rate was 38.

"The reasons for low performance (of India) include issues pertaining to adequacy of access and quality of healthcare, affordability, regional disparities, other socio cultural determinants of health etc," she said.