In the first ever annual assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in health performance India has ranked 143rd among 188 countries.
Health Indicators measured includes: mortality rates, malaria, hygiene and air pollution.
The study was published in medical journal Lancet and launched at a special event at the United Nations general assembly in New York.
India was placed just ahead of Pakistan and Bangladesh which were ranked 149th and 151st respectively.
India’s is placed lower than countries like Bhutan, Botswana, Syria and Sri Lanka.
India’s Score:
For malaria India merely scored 10 points and remained in the red zone.
In hygiene, the study gave India just eight points.
For PM 2.5 levels India just scored just 18 points.
For under-five mortality India scored 39 points while for Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) it scored 28 points.
India, however, scored above 80 points for performing well in areas like Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD), which are a diverse group of communicable diseases, overweight and alcohol consumption.
Background:
The SDGs are 17 universal goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators set by the United Nations in 2015 to guide a range of pressing problems, including food and water security, poverty and climate change up to 2030.
The SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals.
In 2015, the health-related SDG index was highest in Iceland, Singapore and Sweden, with the UK ranking fifth just ahead of Finland.
The Central African Republic, Somalia and South Sudan had the lowest values in the SDG index.