Overview
- The health ministry released streamlined NFHS-6 fact sheets this week as a first-stage snapshot covering 101 headline indicators rather than a comprehensive national report.
- Officials say several indicators cited as missing were left out deliberately because they are tracked by specialised surveys or administrative systems such as Swachh Survekshan Grameen, the Sample Registration System and MoSPI surveys.
- Anaemia estimates were excluded from the fact sheets because NFHS-6 did not do haemoglobin testing by finger-prick; the government says anaemia prevalence will come from ICMR’s Diet and Biomarkers Survey using venous blood samples to improve accuracy.
- Political leaders have pushed back, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accusing the government of hiding data and Union Health Minister J P Nadda responding that the fact sheets are partial and that selective reading is misleading.
- The ministry says the full NFHS-6 national report is being prepared with technical partners and will add granular family planning, child health, women’s health and HIV findings, a staged approach that could change how national health trends are reported and used for policy.