A global health study to assess countries on a range of health indicators has ranked India at 143 in a list of 188 countries, citing high mortality rates, malaria, hygiene, and air pollution. India was placed just ahead of Pakistan (149) and Bangladesh (151), and way beyond Sri Lanka (79), China (92), war-torn Syria (117) and Iraq (128).
India scored a dismal 10 points on malaria, which was one of the health indicators assessed. For hygiene, the study gave India just 8 points and for PM2.5 (a deadly pollutant), it scored just 18 points.
The study that was conducted by an international collaboration on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) and was published in the online journal The Lancet, blames India’s political and medical classes, who it says has ignored public health principles, such as addressing social determinants of disease and ensuring high-quality, accountable, universal health care for people.
