Inter-linkages between Poverty & Health: An Analysis of Uttar Pradesh

With growing emphasis on human development, health has emerged as one of the key areas for policy interventions by governments in many developing countries in general, and India in particular. A large body of evidence now exists to suggest that poverty has a close inter-relationship with health status of the population. Given that poverty is a major outcome of poor health status and low level of human capital, it appears to be vital to bring this to Uttar Pradesh and its regions under serious empirical investigation. For empirical analysis we have considered NSSO morbidity and health care (60th round) data as major source.
Some of the major findings suggest that the postulated relationship is more profound in urban areas than in rural. A possible reason may be the lack of access to health services by rural households due to very acute poverty situation. By implication, it amounts to suggest that a considerable proportion of rural population in parts of UP suffer from serious health issues due to poverty driven inaccessibility of health care and suffer from pains and misery. That it severely affects their productivity and contribution to the economy can be easily inferred.