More hospital beds, but infant mortality rate up

Around 8,000 beds have been added in six years; life expectancy in the Capital now stands at 72

An infant is being carried by her mother while begging outside the FICCI auditorium, where the Minister of External Affairs was launching the Indo-European Union Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi on April 02, 2005. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

The over-all health of Delhi has gotten a boost under the Delhi government with more hospital beds and an increase in institutional deliveries. However, the Infant Mortality Rate rose to 24 deaths per 1,000 in 2015, compared to 22 deaths per 1,000 in 2013.

According to the latest Economic Survey (2016-17) of the National Capital, which was released on Tuesday, the total number of hospital beds increased from 41,706 in 2010 to 49,969 in 2015-16 — a 20% jump.

The bed population ratio (beds per 1,000 persons) has increased from 2.54 to 2.76 in the same period.

Also 84.41% of the total births in the city were institutional in 2015.

The per capita expenditure on health has also increased from ₹1,243 in 2009-10 to ₹2,999 in 2015-16

The survey also revealed that the crude death rate (the total number of deaths per year per 1,000 people) in Delhi is among the “lowest in the country”. Life expectancy is on the higher side at around 72 years.

Infant mortality rates

“Important vital indicators like Infant Mortality Rate, Neo-Natal Mortality Rate, Under Five Mortality Rate for 2015 stand at lower levels — 24 (data as per Civil Registration System - CRS), 15 (CRS), and 24 (data as per Sample Registration Survey) — in comparison to the all-India levels: 40, 16 and 29 respectively,” the survey said.

To boost the healthcare system, the AAP government recently joined hands with 41 NABH-accredited hospitals, where patients can seek surgery free of cost — if the waiting period in Delhi hospitals exceeds one month.

Last December, the government had tied up with eight private laboratories to facilitate free MRIs and CT scans for needy patients.

Social welfare

Meanwhile, in the Social Security and Welfare department, 61,000 differently-abled people were remitted monthly financial assistance under the ‘Financial Assistance to Differently Abled Persons’ scheme in 2015-16. In 2016-17 (till December 2016) around 70,000 people got financial assistance under this scheme.

Also, around 3.82 lakh senior citizens were remitted monthly old-age pension in current financial year 2016-17 (till December 2016). In 2015-16, about 3.88 lakh senior citizens were given the pension. Around 1.6 lakh beneficiaries got pension under the ‘Pension to Women in Distress’ scheme — ₹267.58 crore were incurred under the scheme.