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

While only 33.5 per cent of households in Nagaland lived in a pucca house, 98.6 per cent of the total households surveyed had access to electricity.

Overall, 89.3 per cent of all surveyed households had access to basic drinking water services but only 45.8 per cent had water piped into their dwelling, yard or plot. About 87 per cent of the households had basic sanitation services and only 0.4 per cent households in the state had no sanitation facilities.

Roughly 91.7 per cent households surveyed had at least one member with a bank or post office account. Further, only 20.5 per cent of households had any type of health insurance or financing scheme that covered at least one member of the household.

Around 16.5 per cent of children aged 2-4 years attended preschool in the state – 23.9 per cent in urban areas and 13.7 per cent in rural areas. Among those aged 6-14 years, 94.2 per cent attended school. However, this number dropped to 80.7 per cent for those between the ages of 15-17 years.

The total fertility rate in Nagaland (among women aged 15-49 years) declined between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 from 2.7 children per woman to 1.7 children per woman.

The contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) among currently married women between the ages of 15-49 years was 57.4 per cent. Around 45.3 per cent of women in the state used modern contraceptive methods like sterilisation, pills, intrauterine devices, injectables or condoms.

The infant mortality rate in Nagaland in NFHS-5 was estimated at 23 deaths (before the age of one) per 1,000 live births, a marked decrease from the NFHS-4 estimate of 30 deaths. The under-five mortality rate also fell from 37 deaths (before the age of five years) per 1,000 live births in NFHS-4 to 33 deaths.

The report states that while only 57.9 per cent of children between the ages of 12-23 months were fully vaccinated against illnesses like tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and measles, almost 93 per cent were at least partially vaccinated.

As high as 43 per cent of children (aged 6-59 months) in the state suffered from anaemia. Since NFHS-4, the percentage of children who were stunted (too short for their age) grew from 29 per cent to 33 per cent. Additionally, the number of children who were wasted (too thin for their height) also increased from 17 per cent to 27 per cent.

In Nagaland, 25 per cent of women and 31 per cent of men surveyed were either overweight or underweight, the report notes. Further, as many as 29 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men in the state were anaemic.

Of young women between the ages of 15-24 years, 80 per cent used a hygienic method of menstrual protection. Around 56.6 per cent of the women surveyed in this age group used cloth, 77.5 per cent used sanitary napkins, 3.5 per cent used locally prepared napkins and 0.2 per cent used menstrual cups.

In the 12 months leading up to the survey, among people aged 15-49 years, 71.1 per cent of men were employed with 75 per cent of this group earning in cash. On the other hand, only 38.6 per cent of women were employed out of which only 61 percent earned cash.

The report notes that around 96.2 per cent of women and 97.9 per cent of men (aged 15-49 years) in the state had heard of HIV/AIDS. However, only 25.6 percent of women and 40.1 percent of men had ‘comprehensive knowledge’ about it.

Around 10 per cent of women surveyed in Nagaland (aged 18-49 years) reported experiencing either physical or sexual violence. Moreover, 11 per cent of ever married women in the same age group had experienced emotional, physical or sexual violence from their spouse.

Focus and Factoids by Sowmya Vaidyanathan.

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.