New government data shows a 3-point drop in national IMR rates, and 2 to 5 point drops in our Model District states, between 2009 and 2010.
Model Districts India
India carries the world’s greatest burden of poor reproductive health, child health and nutrition. India has the highest number of maternal deaths in the world, one out of every 15 children dies before his or her fifth birthday, and 52 million children are undernourished. Despite these considerable health challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks India 171st out of 175 nations in public health spending.
The Model Districts project is a partnership between the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, in an effort to accelerate national progress towards Millennium Development Goals one, four and five by 2015. India’s regions vary significantly in disease burden; the coverage of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) interventions; and sociocultural, political and economic contexts. Five rural districts, selected to represent India’s key regions, have been proposed as models for the regional scale-up of best practices that target poor maternal and child health outcomes. The project supports district and state governments to implement innovations and target additional resources within the NRHM. Thus, the goals of Model Districts are to improve the quality and efficiency of health services, increase the availability of high-impact interventions for mothers and children, and increase the uptake of key services by targeting demand-side behavior.
India’s new Annual Health Survey: the largest survey sample in the world?
India’s anticipated Annual Health Survey surveyed a sample population of 18.2 million from 284 districts. Where do the Model Districts stand?
New working paper: Model Districts as a roadmap for scale-up
Read our team’s new working paper on ‘Model Districts as a Roadmap for Public Health Scale-up in India.’ In this paper we will briefly explain how India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and The Earth Institute arrived at the need for the Model Districts initiative, the project’s proposed strategy for narrowing the policy-practice gaps and [...]
New working paper: India’s Decade of Development II
In 2000 Drs. Sachs and Bajpai called for a ‘Decade of Development’ in India. Now in 2011, a new working paper reflects on progress and propose strategies for strengthening India’s growth in the next 20 years.
Our newest Model District (in a state of 199 million people)
We’ve launched the second of five Model Districts: in a state big enough to be the 5th largest country in the world.
India is booming – so why are nearly half of its children malnourished? (Part 2)
About one third of the world’s malnourished children live in India. What is the country doing about its nutrition challenges, and is there a way forward?
India is booming – so why are nearly half of its children malnourished? (Part 1)
India has more hungry people than anywhere in the world, and remains an enigma in global nutrition. How can a country have shining economic growth and strong agricultural productivity, without commensurate reductions in hunger and malnutrition?
India’s progress towards the healthcare MDGs
The Model Districts project is narrowing in on maternal and child health, with targets set by MDGs 1, 4, 5. How is India progressing towards these goals?
What is the Model Districts project?
We are excited to introduce the Earth Institute’s newest project in India, the Model Districts. This is a 5-year initiative focused on maternal and child health, and will serve as a roadmap of progress towards MDGs 1, 4, and 5.
