Health status of Indian women: evidence from World Health Survey data

Bhawna Malik, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Women live longer worldwide but they are more likely than men to experience poor health. Moreover, women’s health is probably one of the most inadequately researched areas in international public health. A major flaw in past efforts has been an almost exclusive focus on women as mothers and child-care givers rather than on women themselves as a target population of interest. The main aim of the present study is to examine the health status of women by background characteristics in India and its six states by using data of World Health Survey (2003). Health status was measured by health in general and two major indicators of health- ‘mobility’ and ‘pain and discomfort’. The result shows that only half of women reported themselves to be in good health and have no difficulty in mobility whereas 42 percent women are reporting some form of pain and discomfort.