DIMAPUR, MAY 30 (NPN): Nagaland has registered marked improvements in maternal healthcare, child nutrition and vaccination coverage under the National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) 2023-24, but rising lifestyle diseases, tobacco use and alcohol consumption continue to pose major public health concerns.
The latest survey, released Friday by the Health Ministry, showed significant progress in institutional healthcare access across the state compared to NFHS-5 (2019-21).
Institutional births in Nagaland rose sharply from 45.7% in NFHS-5 to 62.2% in NFHS-6, while births attended by skilled health personnel increased from 55.3% to 74.4%. Mothers receiving postnatal care within two days of delivery also improved substantially from 43.9% to 59.1%.
Antenatal care indicators recorded improvement as well. Mothers who had antenatal check-ups in the first trimester increased from 49.5% to 61.8%, while women receiving at least four antenatal visits rose from 20.7% to 32.5%.
Child nutrition indicators also showed encouraging gains. Stunting among children under five years declined significantly from 32.7% to 25.1%, while underweight children reduced from 26.9% to 12.2%. Wasting among children fell from 19.1% to 8.9%.
Vaccination coverage improved moderately, with fully vaccinated children aged 12-23 months increasing from 57.9% to 64.3%.
Further, the survey recorded major advances in digital access and financial inclusion among women. Women who had ever used the internet rose from 49.9% to 76.6%, while women operating their own bank or savings accounts increased from 63.7% to 85.7%. Mobile phone usage among women climbed to 88.5% from 82.5%.
However, the report highlighted emerging lifestyle-related health challenges in the state.
Hypertension remained widespread, affecting 23.7% of women and 28.7% of men aged 15 years and above. Elevated blood sugar levels or diabetes-related conditions affected around 10% of adults.
Tobacco consumption remained alarmingly high, particularly among men. More than half of men aged 15 years and above—51.2%—reported using some form of tobacco, while 17.4% of women also consumed tobacco products. Alcohol consumption among men stood at 26.9%.
The survey also indicated rising overweight and obesity levels among women.
The proportion of women aged 15-49 years who were overweight or obese increased from 14.4% in NFHS-5 to 17.2% in NFHS-6.
At the same time, fertility trends continued to decline. Nagaland’s total fertility rate dropped from 1.7 to 2.0 children per woman, remaining close to replacement level fertility.
The state also reported progress in family planning awareness and reduced unmet need for family planning, which fell from 9.1% to 5.7%.
Gender-related indicators reflected some improvement. Women experiencing spousal violence declined from 6.5% to 4%, while usage of hygienic menstrual protection methods among women aged 15-24 years increased from 80.6% to 89.6%.
Despite improvements, rural-urban disparities persisted across several indicators, especially maternal healthcare access, internet usage and institutional delivery rates.
NFHS-6 was conducted during 2023-24 by health ministry with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai as the nodal agency. Covering nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts, the survey provides vital evidence on population, health, nutrition and family welfare indicators and supports evidence-based planning and programme implementation up to the district level.
Sunday, May 31, 2026