National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-20 Union Territory Fact Sheet: Puducherry

In Puducherry, almost all (99.9 per cent) of the population surveyed lived in households that had access to electricity – 100 per cent in urban areas and 99.7 per cent in rural areas.

An ‘improved’ water source was available in 99.9 per cent of households in the union territory, the fact sheet states. However, only 84.9 per cent of people lived in households with improved sanitation facilities.

The percentage of households using clean fuel for cooking was reported to be 92.3 per cent – much higher in urban areas (95.8 per cent) than in rural areas (84.6 per cent). Overall, the percentage of households using clean fuel increased by 7.5 per cent since NFHS-4.

The percentage of literate women and men in Puducherry were recorded to be 89.7 per cent and 93.8 per cent respectively. Respondents were considered literate if they had finished education till Class 9 and higher or if they were able to read a complete sentence or a part of it.

The total fertility rate in the union territory was reported at 1.5 children per woman. It was a slight fall from NFHS-4 figures of 1.7 children.

The infant mortality rate saw a steep fall to 2.9 deaths (before the age of one year) per 1,000 live births in NFHS-5 from the 15.7 deaths reported in NFHS-4. At the same time, the under-five mortality rate also fell from 16.2 deaths (before the age of five years) per 1,000 live births to 3.9 deaths.

Among married women (aged 15-49 years) in Puducherry, 66 per cent used contraceptive methods of family planning. Modern methods like sterilisation, intrauterine devices, injectables, contraceptive pills or condoms were used by 62.1 per cent of women.

Around 61.7 per cent of women in urban areas and 73.1 per cent of women in rural areas who were pregnant in the five years prior to the survey consumed iron folic acid for 180 days or more when they were pregnant. This figure was considerably higher than its NFHS-4 counterpart – 36.3 per cent.

The percentage of children (aged 12-23 months) who were fully vaccinated fell to 82 per cent in NFHS-5. The figure in NFHS-4 had been 91.3 per cent.

Of all children surveyed under five years of age, 20 per cent were reported to be stunted (too short for their age) and 12.4 per cent were wasted (too thin for their height).

The prevalence of anaemia among children aged 6-59 months increased from 44.9 per cent in NFHS-4 to 64 per cent in NFHS-5. Additionally, among women and men in Puducherry between the ages of 15-49 years, 55.1 per cent of women and 19.5 per cent of men were also anaemic.

The number of women who had a bank or savings account that they themselves used rose from 68.2 per cent in NFHS-4 to 92.6 per cent.

Of the women and men (aged 15-49 years) surveyed in the union territory, 30.2 per cent and 32.5 per cent respectively, had ‘comprehensive’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS.

As many as 30.5 per cent of married women between the ages of 18-49 years reported having experienced spousal violence, down from 34.6 per cent in NFHS-4.

Focus and Factoids by Devanshi Parekh.

PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.