According to recent statistics from the Sample Registration System (SRS)-based Abridged Life Tables (2014-18) from the Census and Registrar General of India, it is indicated that a child born in India on World Health Day 2021 could expect to live less than the average global lifespan. This notable finding gets us to recognise World Health Day, which is celebrated on the 7th April annually.
Understanding Life Expectancy and India’s Current Situation
Life expectancy can be defined as an estimate of the average quantity of additional years that a person at a particular age might anticipate living. The most prevalent measure of life expectancy is life expectancy at birth. According to data, an Indian child born in 2021 might expect to live up to 69 years and 4 months, which is lower than the global average lifespan of 72.81 years.
India’s Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
Infant Mortality Rate, or IMR, signifies the number of deaths per 1,000 live births of children below the age of one year. As it stands today, India’s IMR is reported to be 33.
Pollution Expected to Further Reduce Life Expectancy
The average lifespan in India is expected to shorten further by approximately two years and six months due to the exposure to consistently toxic air quality. In fact, in 2019, India’s air recorded the highest annual average concentration of PM 2.5 globally, according to the State of Global Air 2020 report. In addition, 35 out of the world’s 50 most polluted cities were located in India in 2020, including Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Bulandshahr listed among the top 10. These alarming conditions forecast that an Indian child would only live up to 66 years and 8 months, thus possibly not surviving past their 67th birthday in April 2089.
About World Health Day
World Health Day was first conceptualized during the inaugural Health Assembly in 1948, and officially went into effect in 1950. Over the years, this global observation has helmed important health-related issues like mental health, maternal and child care, and even climate change. Its primary aim is to raise awareness about specific health themes that are of concern to the World Health Organization (WHO). The theme for the year 2021 was “Building a fairer, healthier world for everyone.”
Health Initiatives in India
In an effort to combat these health challenges, several initiatives have been launched in India. These include the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana, and India’s Health Index.
About SRS-Based Abridged Life Tables
The SRS-Based Abridged Life Tables outlines survival probabilities at different stages of life for a hypothetical group or cohort which gradually decrease due to deaths. With the introduction of the Sample Registration System (SRS), an alternative source of data for life table construction has become available. These tables, prepared from SRS data, provide a conventional way of expressing fundamental facts about age distribution of mortality, making them powerful tools for measuring life and death probabilities of various age groups. This allows for informed understanding of the implications of age-specific mortality rates in terms of average life expectancy. In India, it has been common practice to construct life tables using age composition data from successive population censuses.
