New Delhi, August 26: The death rate in the Capital continues to rise despite a consistent drop in the national average over the last decade, government figures released on Tuesday indicated.
The death rate, which implies the number of deaths per 1,000 people, stood at 6.29 last year, slightly more than 6.07 the year before, but the highest in nine years.
The figure is an indicator of the population’s health, living conditions and also of healthcare facilities in a city.
The national average of death rate has also declined consistently over the corresponding period. The figure stood at 7.4 when it was last calculated in 2007, compared to 8.4 in 2001.
The figure for Delhi was based on the number of deaths registered at the office of the Chief Registrar ( Births and Deaths) of the Delhi government. The national average was, however, calculated through a sample based on door- todoor survey, which is said to be more accurate as most deaths go unregistered.
Health officials said the increase in the death rate last year was in decimals and not a cause for alarm. But experts disagreed, saying the death rate should ideally reduce over the years. Delhi’s death rate was 5.81 in 2001 and has consistently increased ever since, barring in 2003 and 2004 when it dropped slightly.
Professor Imrana Qadeer of the Jawaharlal Nehru University , who specialises in primary healthcare, epidemiological studies and health policy analysis, said it reflected poorly on the living conditions in the city.
” The lifespan of residents is directly related to the environment they live in and their lifestyle. Delhi should ideally reduce its death rate. But an increasing death rate suggests the government needs to provide better facilities, like clean drinking water, better housing, sanitation and healthcare,” said Qadeer.
Silver Lining
From cutting a sorry figure every year by posting a poor sex ratio, the Capital has made its way up on the list of cities that have a healthy ratio of male and female births.
Delhi saw the birth of 1,004 females for every 1,000 males last year, according to records based on births registered with the state government.
While this figure is much more than previous years, when it didn’t go past the 900 mark, health officials said the improvement had a lot to do with the incentives offered for the girl child.
” The figure is purely based on birth registration data and could be skewed as unusually more people registered birth of girls to earn monetary incentives offered by the government,” an official said.
Under the Ladli scheme, the government deposits about Rs 10,000 for every girl born and Rs 5,000 each at the time of her admission to Classes I, VI, IX, X and XII. The central government conducted a door- to- door survey and estimated Delhi’s sex ratio at 905 in 2001.
According to WHO, a healthy girl- boy ratio stands at 952 females for every 1,000 males.
—Agencies