Population Council Research that makes a difference

European Population Conference 2012
13–16 June

Abstract

"A district-level analysis of utilization of health services and RCH status in Uttar Pradesh, India"
Manju Rani, Ravendra K. Sharma, Ashok Kumar, and Atvir Singh

Uttar Pradesh state, with a population of about 200 million, is India's most populous state and accounts for approximately 16% of the country's population and about 9% of geographic area. The state is divided into four distinct regions and 71 districts. In terms of demographic achievements, the state's performance has improved in terms of numbers of indicators but still lags far behind national averages. Moreover, demographic and development indicators vary substantially between different regions and districts. This study attempts to examine the variation in the utilization of reproductive and child health (RCH) services, that is, antenatal care, safe deliveries, child immunization, and reproductive and 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 interdistrict variation, different datasets has been utilized, including Census of India 2001 and 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 socioeconomic development, availability of health facilities, utilization of RCH services, and reproductive and child health status in the districts of Uttar Pradesh state. The links of socioeconomic 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, and utilization and quality of services. The study reveals that utilization of health services and social development depicts a 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. The study clearly demonstrates that districts having higher utilization of RCH services and better quality of services also have relatively better reproductive and child health.

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