Naveen Patnaik’s eight-year-long rule in Orissa seems to have brought little cheer to the people in rural areas as the result of a survey shows that the health and nutrition indices in the state are very pathetic.The 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), the third in a series of national surveys of population, health, and nutrition, was conducted by State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW) between November 2005 and April 2006. The survey result released recently reveals how malnutrition continues to be a significant problem for children and adults in Orissa. Forty five per cent of children under the age of five are stunted, or too short for their age, which indicates that they have been undernourished for some time. One in five is wasted, or too thin for their height, which may result from inadequate recent food intake or a recent illness.The report says adults in Orissa suffer from undernutrition, and 41 per cent of women and 36 per cent of men are too thin. Only 52 per cent of women and 58 per cent of men have a healthy weight for their height. The survey shows how the women-friendly schemes of the Naveen Patnaik Government could do nothing to bring down the level of anaemia among woman as 61 per cent of women in Orissa showed signs of anaemia.More than two-thirds of pregnant women (69%) were found to be anaemic. Even though men are less likely than women to be anaemic, anaemia levels in men are still unacceptably high (34%).The findings are consistent with the statistics of India State Hunger Index in 2008 released by the International Food Policy Research Institute earlier this week in which Orissa was shown to have slid down the prosperity ladder from the 5th rank in 1994 to the 12th slot this year.Though the infant mortality in the state dropped, it continued to be higher than the national average and the sixth highest among 29 states in the country. While women should receive postnatal care within two days of delivery, only one-third of women received a postnatal check-up within that period in Orissa .The survey also brought out the horrors of domestic violence. More than one-third of married women (38%) reported that they had experienced spousal violence that was either physical or sexual in nature. The survey also measured HIV prevalence and found the HIV prevalence rate for India as a whole, including Orissa, to be 0.28 per cent.
