Women in UP live 12 years lesser than their Kerala sisters, reveals Lancet report

On an average a woman in Uttar Pradesh will live twelve years lesser than in Kerala. This is one of the many glaring findings of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative report published in top medical journal Lancet on Tuesday.

For the first time ever, India has released numbers of state-wise burden of diseases tracking trends over the past thirty years which highlights disparities between states.

National-level data can obscure disparities across India’s varied landscape, so a detailed understanding of health challenges at the state level is necessary to ensure that policies are responsive to the specific context of each state, it says.

While Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh have the highest disease burden rates, while Kerala and Goa have the lowest rates.

For example, in Assam, men live close to three years lesser than the national average at 63.6 years while in Kerala they live over seven years more at 73.8 years.

“In Uttar Pradesh, average life expectancy of females in 2016 is 66.8 years, close to four years lesser than the national average of 70.3 years, while in Kerala it is eight years more than the national average at 78.7 years,” it states.

“Life expectancy in whole of India has improved over three decades …read more