A district level analysis of utilization of health services and RCH status in Uttar Pradesh, India

Manju Rani, Government Degree College, Chhaprauli
Ravendra K. Sharma, Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals (ICMR), India
Ashok Kumar, Population Council
Atvir Singh, Chaudhary Charan Singh University

Uttar Pradesh state with a population of about 200 million is the India’s most populous state and accounts for approximately 16% of the country’s population and about 9% of geographical area. The state is divided into four distinct regions and 71 districts. In terms of demographic achievements, the states performance is indeed improved in terms of numbers of indicators but still lacking far behind than national averages. Moreover, the demographic and development indicators vary substantial between different regions and districts. This study attempt to examine the variation in the utilization of RCH services viz. antenatal care, safe deliveries, child immunization, and reproductive & child health status in the districts of Uttar Pradesh. The district level analysis is carried out for all districts as recorded in DLSH-3 (2007-08). To study the inter-districts variation, different datasets has been utilized, viz. Census of India 2001 & 2011, District Level Health and Facility Survey 2007-08 (IIPS, 2010), and Socio-Demographic indicators form State Human Development Report (2008). Different composite indices are computed to study the pattern of socio-economic development, availability of health facilities, utilization of RCH services and reproductive and child health status in the districts of Uttar Pradesh state. The linkages of socio-economic and demographic indicators with utilization of services and RCH status are also examined. There are vast differences among the districts of Uttar Pradesh in respect to social development, reproductive and child health, utilization and quality of services. The study reveals that utilization of health services and social development depicts strong negative relation with reproductive morbidities. Overall, reproductive and child health are highly and positively associated with utilization of RCH services, and quality of services. It clearly demonstrates that districts having higher utilization of RCH services, better quality of services also have relatively better reproductive and child health.