Health Transition in India: A Study of Mortality and Epidemiological Trends and Determinants

Over the course of the last century, all regions across the globe unexceptionally witnessed major changes in the levels of mortality resulting to a steady rise in life expectancy at all ages. In recent decades, the pace of demographic and epidemiological transition has accelerated in India. Since Independence, India has made huge efforts, however fertility, mortality and morbidity still remain unacceptably high both compared to countries in the region and those at similar income levels. The impact of poverty on health care and vice-versa is significant. These improvements have been unequally distributed across regions among different strata of population. Such diversified health profile of the country raised the question: whether we learnt from the experiences of health transition from those of developed countries and if we are progressing in the right direction towards achieving the goal “Health for All”. Keeping this in perspective, this study made an attempt to understand the social, economic and demographic context of process of health transition at national and regional levels.