Indicators “missing” in the NFHS, which are monitored through national databases, sources say

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Union health ministry sources have responded to criticism of “missing” indicators such as anaemia, sanitation and clean cooking fuel coverage in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 fact sheets, saying they are monitored through dedicated national surveys and administrative databases and were not “duplicated” in the preliminary version.

Also read | What NFHS-6 tells us about health in India

In response to “comments in sections of the media regarding the absence of certain indicators”, official sources said the fact sheets represent the first phase of dissemination and cover 101 key indicators, which aim to provide a concise overview of India’s most critical health and demographic trends.

“Fact sheets are the first phase of dissemination. A detailed national report will give a much bigger picture,” the sources said. The report will subsequently be issued with a much wider range of indicators, detailed analyzes and methodological documentation.

“The aim is to ensure that each indicator is reported through the most appropriate and reliable source, reducing duplication and improving overall data coherence,” one of the sources said.

The sources said several indicators listed as “missing” in the fact sheets are monitored through specialized national systems. For example, sanitation and clean cooking fuel coverage are monitored through specialized surveys and administrative platforms such as Swachh Survekshan Grameen and Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation surveys, so duplication in fact sheets is unnecessary, they said.

Key statistics on mortality, birth registration and population characteristics continue to be generated through established systems such as the Sample Registration System, the Population Registration System and the Census Framework, which remain the country’s designated sources for these indicators, the sources said.

In the absence of anemia estimates in fact sheets, they stated that hemoglobin testing was not performed in NFHS-6 due to concerns regarding the capillary blood collection methodology used in previous rounds.

Instead, anemia prevalence estimates will be derived from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Diet and Biomarkers Survey, which uses gold-standard venous blood sampling methods to improve accuracy and reliability. The decision reflects an effort to strengthen the quality of health data rather than limit the scope of the survey, they said.

Far from narrowing survey coverage, NFHS-6 introduced several new indicators to the fact sheets, including population composition, proportion of the elderly population, financial inclusion, prenatal care utilization, vaccination coverage, prevalence of severe diarrheal diseases and expanded indicators of breastfeeding, they said.

Official sources clarified that several indicators not reflected in the fact sheets have not been omitted and will be detailed in the full national report. These include detailed family planning indicators, selected child health interventions, other aspects related to women’s health, and HIV-related findings.

They said the NFHS remains the largest and most comprehensive household health survey in India and continues to serve as a cornerstone for evidence-based policy making. The final national report is currently being prepared in consultation with technical experts, relevant ministries and development partners before its publication, they said.

The NFHS questionnaire undergoes regular refinement to reflect emerging policy priorities while maintaining survey quality and reducing respondent burden, a practice routinely followed by large household surveys around the world, official sources said.

The evolution of the NFHS reporting framework reflects the growing maturity of India’s statistical architecture, where multiple specialized surveys and administrative databases are increasingly complementing each other to provide a more comprehensive, accurate and policy-relevant picture of the country’s development path, they said.

Published – 07 Jun 2026 16:13 IST