National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-21: Jammu & Kashmir

Of the total households surveyed, 72 per cent were located in rural areas and 75 per cent households resided in pucca houses. Further, around 99 per cent households reported having access to electricity.

The report states that around 92.3 per cent households had access to ‘improved’ sources of drinking water, and 75.6 per cent had access to basic sanitation facilities.

In Jammu and Kashmir, only 24.6 per cent of boys and girls aged 2-4 years were attending preschool. Among children aged 11-14 years, 96.7 per cent attended school but the number dropped to 87.1 per cent among children aged 15-17 years.

The median age at first marriage among women aged 25-49 years was 23.6 years. Of women between the ages of 20-24 years, five per cent had married before reaching the minimum legal age of 18 years. This was a decrease from the NFHS-4 estimates of nine per cent.

The total fertility rate in the union territory was 1.4 children per woman (1.5 children in rural areas and 1.2 children in urban areas). The fertility rate reduced considerably since NFHS-4 when it was recorded at 2.01 children per woman.

The contraceptive prevalence rate among married women between 15-49 years of age was 60 per cent – three percentage points higher than in NFHS-4. The share of female sterilization reduced to 21 per cent (from 24 per cent in NFHS-4), and its share in the overall contraceptive use also declined to 35 per cent during NFHS-5 from the 43 per cent recorded in NFHS-4.

As high as 35 per cent of men (aged 15-49 years) in Jammu and Kashmir thought that contraception is “women’s business”. Further, 34 per cent of men within the same age bracket thought that women using contraception risk becoming “promiscuous”.

The infant mortality rate in Jammu and Kashmir reduced from 32.4 deaths (before the age of one year) per 1,000 live births during NFHS-4to 16.3 deaths in NFHS-5. During the same period, the under-five mortality rate also declined from 37.6 deaths (before the age of five years) per 1,000 live births to 18.5 deaths.

Among mothers who had given birth in the five years prior to the survey, 86 per cent had received antenatal care from a doctor and eight per cent had received care from an auxiliary nurse midwife, a lady health visitor, a nurse, or a midwife.

About 86 per cent of the children (aged 12-23 months) had received all basic vaccinations against the six major childhood illnesses: tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and measles. About 96 per cent of children were at least partially vaccinated, and only four per cent of the children had not received any vaccinations.

Among children under the age of five years, 27 per cent were stunted (too short for their age), 19 per cent were wasted (too thin for their height) and as high as 10 per cent were severely wasted. As high as 73 per cent of children between the ages of 6-59 months were anaemic.

Of all the people surveyed in Jammu and Kashmir, 84 per cent of women and 89.2 per cent of men had heard of HIV/AIDS. However, only 15.8 per cent of women and 33.6 per cent of men had ‘comprehensive knowledge’ about it.

Overall, 74 per cent of women (aged 15-24 years) reported using a hygienic method of menstrual protection such as sanitary napkins, tampons or menstrual cups, which is an increase from 67 per cent recorded in NFHS-4.

Only about 29 per cent of women compared to the 73 per cent of men (aged 15-49 years) were employed in the 12 months preceding the NFHS-5 survey.

In Jammu and Kashmir, about 52 per cent of women had money which they could spend freely (“decide how to use”, as per the report), with a higher proportion in urban areas (57 per cent) compared to rural areas (50 per cent). Further, 85 per cent of women had a bank or savings account that they themselves used.

About 10 per cent of women (aged 18-49 years) reported having experienced physical or sexual violence and two per cent women reported experiencing both physical and sexual violence. Only 14 per cent of women who had ever experienced physical or sexual violence sought help, the report notes.

Focus and Factoids by Aaira Mitra.

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.