National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-21: Goa

Of the households surveyed in Goa, 90 per cent lived in a pucca house and all households surveyed had access to electricity. Around 41 per cent of the total households were situated in rural areas.

Almost all households surveyed (98.2 per cent) had basic drinking water services and 87 per cent households had access to basic sanitation facilities. Access to basic sanitation facilities was higher in urban areas (89 per cent) than in rural areas (85.5 per cent).

Preschool attendance for children aged 2-4 years was higher among girls (58.8 per cent) than among boys (51.7 per cent). School attendance among children in the 6-14 years age group was almost 99 per cent. However, it dropped to 88 per cent among children aged 15-17 years.

Among the people surveyed in the state, 92 per cent of women and 94 per cent of men (aged 15-49 years) were literate, that is, they had either passed Class 9 or passed a simple literacy test conducted as part of NFHS-5. Roughly half of the people – 48 per cent of women and 54 per cent of men – had completed 12 or more years of schooling.

Among women between the ages of 20-24 years, six per cent had married before the legal minimum age of 18. This was a decrease from NFHS-4 numbers of 10 per cent.

The contraceptive prevalence rate in Goa was recorded at 67.9 per cent, a steep rise from the 26.3 per cent recorded in NFHS-4. Only a small percentage of men (1.2 per cent) believed that contraception was ‘women’s business’.

In the five years preceding the survey, 99.7 per cent of all births took place in a health facility – 56.2 per cent in the public sector and 43.5 per cent in the private sector – and 0.3 per cent happened at home.

The infant mortality rate in the state declined from NFHS-4 estimates of 13 deaths (before the age of one) per 1,000 live births to six deaths per 1,000 live births in NFHS-5.

Almost 82 per cent of children between the ages of 12-23 months had received all the basic vaccinations against six major childhood illnesses – tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and measles. Only 2.1 per cent of the children in this age group did not receive any vaccination at all.

The report states that 26 per cent of children under the age of five years were stunted (too short for their age) and 19 per cent were wasted (too thin for their height).

Among children aged 6-59 months, prevalence of anaemia increased from 48 per cent during NFHS-4 to 53 per cent (59 per cent among girls and 48 per cent among boys). Of the people surveyed in the state, 39 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men were also reported to be anaemic.

As per self-reports (questionnaires answered without researcher guidance), 329 people per 100,000 were estimated to have medically-treated tuberculosis in Goa. The number was higher among men (400 per 100,000) than women (259 per 100,000) and more in rural areas (353 per 100,000) than in urban areas (312 per 100,000).

All men and 99 per cent of women surveyed in Goa had heard of HIV/AIDS and around 67.2 per cent of men and 49 per cent of women had ‘comprehensive knowledge’ of it.

Of the people surveyed in Goa, 73 per cent men and 68 per cent women (aged 15-49 years) were covered by a health insurance or financial scheme. The percentage of total people covered was higher in rural areas (68 per cent) than in urban areas (65 per cent).

Only one-third (33.2 per cent) of all women (aged 15-49 years) were employed in the 12 months before the survey compared to 78 per cent of men in the same age group.

Around 20 per cent of the surveyed women (aged 18-49 years) had experienced either physical or sexual violence, and three per cent had experienced both. Overall, eight per cent of women, who were or had ever been married, reported experiencing violence from their spouses. Only 10 per cent of the women who had experienced physical or sexual violence sought help.

Focus and Factoids by Akshita Hazarika.

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.