India is behind in achieving more than 50% of the indicators under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), seven years ahead of the 2030 deadline, a new study has published. KnifeJournal noted.
There are 17 SGDs providing a blueprint for the security and prosperity of people and planet, which 192 UN Member States have committed to achieving by 2030. The study, which provides the first mid-line assessment of India’s progress towards the 2030 Agenda, measured progress across 9 goals by identifying 33 key indicators.
India lags on 19 out of 33 indicators. More than 75% of Indian districts are off target for eight key indicators including poverty, anaemia, child marriage, domestic violence, stunting and wasting of children, access to essential services, modern contraceptive use and tobacco consumption.
“Given a worsening trend between 2016 and 2021, and assuming no improvement occurs, many districts will not be able to meet the SDG targets even after 2030,” the study said. Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha.
The study was led by researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and led by a team of international researchers. They analyzed data on adults and children collected from two iterations of the National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2016 and 2021, in 707 Indian districts. Study authors said India is nearing the halfway point in the timeline to achieve the SDGs, and the results point to an urgent need to accelerate progress on the four SDG goals – no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being and gender equality . ,
The study states, “As India increasingly emerges as a leading economic player in the world economy, its full realization will crucially depend on addressing some of the more fundamental health and social determinants of these important health-related SDGs.” Will depend.”
However, India is doing well on 13 goals. These include bank accounts for women, birth registration, internet access, electricity access, full immunization, birth registration and reducing child marriage etc.
In April 2022, the Union health ministry said it was confident that India would achieve the Sustainable Development Goals target before the 2030 deadline, adding that India had registered a significant decline in maternal mortality. The optimism was reiterated during the Union Budget presentation this year when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India had made “significant progress” with the SDGs.
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According to the “State of the Environment” report released by the Center for Science and Environment, in March 2022, India slipped three ranks from 117 to 120 on the SDG Index – placing India behind all South Asian countries except Pakistan.
The present study confirms the challenges in meeting the health-related indicators and social indicators of health. Even if the observed rate of change continues between 2016 and 2030, the measures will still fail to achieve the 2030 targets. The study states that progress “though in a desirable direction, is insufficient to meet the SDG targets by 2030”. However, if the efforts continue, India can meet the targets of improved water access by 2031, clean fuel for cooking by 2035, reducing the age of teen pregnancy by 2039 and partner sexual violence by 2040.
11 off-target indicators, including access to basic services and partner violence (physical and sexual), could be met between 2041 and 2062.
India will miss the anemia target “as the prevalence of anemia has worsened (worsened) in 3 of these women, pregnant and non-pregnant, between 2016 and 2021, and assuming this trend continues, India will never will also not be able to meet the SDG targets related to anaemia,” the study added. The fifth and latest round of the National Family Health Survey (2019-2021) revealed that more Indians than ever are anaemic, with at least 67% of children and 52.2% of women anaemic.
The study authors noted that there is an urgent need to develop a strategic roadmap to ensure success with respect to meeting the SDGs, “which includes an honest and transparent assessment of the Indian government’s existing programs directly or indirectly related to the SDGs.” Should be.”