The NITI Aayog recently released the ‘annual health index’ for the Covid year 2020-21.
Key highlights of the annual health index:
Top Performer: The three southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana emerged as the top performers among the 19 'larger states' in the index.
Low Performer: Bihar (19th), Uttar Pradesh (18th) and Madhya Pradesh (17th) are at the bottom of the list.
Incremental Performer: Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Odisha emerged as the top three performers in 2020-21, as compared to previous index (2019-20).
Smaller states and UT: Tripura was the best among the 'smaller states', while Delhi ranked at the bottom of the Union territories' list.
About the Index
The NITI Aayog's annual health index measures the performance of states and UTs on a "weighted composite score incorporating 24 health performance indicators".
The health index assesses states and UTs on two parameters –
incremental performance (year-on-year progress)
overall performance
Performance indicators: The performance ranks of states and UTs based on 24 indicators grouped under the domains of ‘health outcomes’, ‘governance and information’, and ‘key inputs/ processes’.