NEW DELHI, Union health ministry sources said that indicators that were allegedly ‘missing’ in the National Family Health Survey-6 fact sheets are captured through ad hoc national surveys and administrative databases and hence were not replicated in the initial release.
In response to “comments in sections of the media regarding the absence of certain indicators”, official sources emphasized that the factsheets represent only the first phase of the rollout and cover 101 key indicators aimed at providing a snapshot of the most important health and demographic trends in India.
“The fact sheets are the first stage of dissemination. The detailed national report will provide a much broader picture,” they said.
It will be released later with a wide range of indicators, detailed analyzes and methodological documents, they added.
“The aim is to ensure each indicator is reported by the most appropriate and reliable source, reducing duplication and improving overall data consistency,” one source said.
Official sources noted that many of the indicators mentioned as “missing” from the fact sheets are actually being monitored through dedicated national systems.
Coverage of sanitation and clean cooking fuels, for example, is tracked through specialized surveys and administrative platforms such as Swachh Survekshan Grameen and surveys conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, making duplication of fact sheets unnecessary, they said.
Likewise, key statistics related to deaths, birth registration and demographic characteristics are still being generated through existing systems such as the Sample Registration System, Civil Registration System and Census Framework, which remain the designated sources for these indicators in the country, the sources said.
Regarding the absence of anemia estimates in the fact sheets, they explained that hemoglobin testing was not performed in NFHS-6 due to concerns surrounding the capillary blood sampling methodology used in previous rounds.
Instead, anemia prevalence estimates will be drawn from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Diet and Biomarkers Survey, which uses standard venous blood sampling methods to improve accuracy and reliability.
They said the decision reflects an attempt to enhance the quality of health data rather than reduce the scope of the survey.
Apart from narrowing the survey coverage, the NFHS-6 introduced several new indicators in the fact sheets, including demographics, share of elderly population, financial inclusion, antenatal care utilization, vaccination coverage, prevalence of severe diarrheal diseases, and expansion of breastfeeding indicators, they said.
Official sources also clarified that many indicators that were not reflected in the fact sheets have not been dropped and will be presented in more detail in the full national report.
These indicators include precision family planning indicators, selected child health interventions, and other aspects of women’s health and HIV-related outcomes.
The NFHS remains the largest and most comprehensive household health survey in India and continues to serve as a cornerstone of evidence-based policy making, they said.
They added that the final national report is currently being prepared in consultation with technical experts, relevant ministries and development partners before its issuance.
The NFHS questionnaire is undergoing periodic revision to reflect emerging policy priorities while maintaining survey quality and reducing respondent burden, a practice typically followed by major household surveys around the world, official sources said.
The evolution of the NBS reporting framework reflects the increasing maturity of India’s statistical architecture, where multiple specialized surveys and administrative databases are increasingly integrating with each other to provide a more comprehensive, accurate and policy-relevant picture of the country’s development journey, they said.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
