The report of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has shows that the girl child sex ratio has improved in Uttarakhand. The survey conducted to analyze the reforms and status of health services provided by the government.The Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) Uttarakhand, Sonika, said that there is a marked improvement in the child sex ratio as compared to previous years. As per the reports, 984 girls were born out of every 1000 boys in Uttarakhand.

In the report of NFHS-4 released in the year 2015-16, this ratio was 888 girls to 1000 boys. Sonika said that this is an important social improvement and is necessary for all round development of girl child.She added that the Health Services in Uttarakhand have also improved. The Percentage of institutional delivery in Uttarakhand has also increased by 21 percent as compared to previous year. The percentage of the institutional deliveries is now at 83.20.

The Mission Director stated that this increase is due to the improvement and development of the medical facilities provided in the hospitals.

Deployment of female doctors and better delivery facilities are also the reasons for this raise in the percentage, she claimed. The NHM Director, Dr Saroj Nethani stated that the improvement in the statistics of NHFS-5 is the result of an effective action plan. She added that there is also an improvement in the vaccination drive. The vaccination percentage has increased from 57.60 percent to 80.80 percent.

This increase of 40.28 per cent undoubtedly shows the improvement and qualitative change in the vaccination drive. This improvement in statistics of the girl child ratio and other health services are indeed a moment to be proud of for the people of Uttarakhand.