Tamil Nadu’s Health Department has objected to the immunisation data published in the NITI Aayog’s SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) India Index 2023-2024.
Raising the contentious issue with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the T.N. Department has pointed to discrepancies in the data, which, its officials say, is the result of using a “wrong denominator” to evaluate the key health indicator.
The NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index, which was published last week, had put Tamil Nadu’s performance in one of the key indicators of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) – percentage of children aged nine to 11 months who were fully immunised – at 85.13. At the national level, 93.23% of children aged nine to 11 months were fully immunised. However, with coverage of 85.13% as per the report, Tamil Nadu was behind at least 15 States. The target for this indicator is 100%.
This indicator aims at ending the preventable deaths of newborns and children aged under five years. The 100% immunisation coverage (BCG, measles and three doses each of polio and DPT) is a prerequisite to achieving the global target, the report said.
“Our performance in the ‘fully immunised’ [indicator] is over 95% in all the health unit districts. This has always been the State’s target. The Government of India (GoI) arrived at the denominator based on the birth rate that was 13.8% at the time of the Sample Registration System (SRS) (2018-2020). However, the number of births registered in Tamil Nadu’s Civil Registration System (CRS) were fewer, with a difference of about 1.70 lakh. As a result, while the actual immunisation coverage is over 95%, it is 85% [in the report] as per the GoI’s calculation,” T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, has said.
Elaborating on the discrepancies in the data, officials said that the GoI’s reviews were based on an estimated target of births, while the Tamil Nadu government’s reviews were based on live births and targets arrived at on the basis of actual births as per the CRS. Going by the GoI’s methodology, the estimated population of infants for 2023-2024 was 10,48,690, whereas the actual live births in the State during the period was 8,78,055 – a difference of 1,70,635 births
They further said that according to the Health Management Information System, Tamil Nadu’s birth rate was 11.4%.
This is not the first time that the State has had to flag discrepancies in data with the Union Health Ministry. A similar issue cropped up after the NITI Aayog published the Healthy States Progressive India report in 2019.
“We have been unable to resolve this for nearly five years despite taking these issues up with the Union Ministry. While they say that they will examine them, the issues remain unaddressed. This difference in immunisation coverage is because of the way in which it is calculated,” Dr. Selvavinayagam said.
