Guwahati: National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) has shown improved child vaccination coverage across the northeastern states, with Assam’s child vaccination rate rising from 66.7% to 81.7% — the best in the region. However, experts say Meghalaya’s stunting levels and the rising caesarean section rates in Assam remain areas of concern.Released on Friday evening, the report says Assam leads the region in child vaccination at 81.7%, nearly matching the national average of 82.6%.Assam is followed by Arunachal Pradesh (75.9%), Meghalaya (75.3%), Tripura (74.4%) and Mizoram (72.1%). Among the northeastern states surveyed for NFHS-6 (2023-24), excluding Manipur, Nagaland recorded the lowest vaccination rate at 64.3%. Experts say vaccination hurdles in Nagaland are linked to behavioural factors and religious superstition, largely driven by fear and misinformation in some areas.NFHS-6 measures child vaccination based on the share of surveyed children aged 12-23 months who are fully vaccinated, using information from either the vaccination card or the mother’s recall.“The northeast’s clearest success story is vaccination. Assam has made a remarkable leap — full coverage among children aged 12-23 months rose from 66.7% in NFHS-5 to 81.7% in NFHS-6, nearly matching the national average of 82.6% and outperforming Bihar (77.3%),” said health economist Tiken Das, assistant professor of economics at Nagaon University. He attributed Assam’s improvement mainly to Mission Indradhanush, the govt’s targeted immunisation drive focusing on high-burden districts such as Dhubri and Barpeta.Despite these gains, the region presents a mixed picture. A significant number of children in Meghalaya continue to face nutritional deficiencies, with 36.8% of children under 5 still stunted. Though stunting figures in Meghalaya improved by nearly 10 percentage points from 46.5% in NFHS-5, they remain high at 36.8% — above the national average of 29.3%. The rate stands at 38.2% in rural areas and 26% in urban areas. Assam too remains above the national average, with 30.3% of children stunted.Experts also point to a growing caesarean section trend, noting that a rising C-section rate is not necessarily a sign of better healthcare — a pattern seen across India. In several northeastern states, especially in private hospitals, caesarean deliveries have risen well above recommended levels. Since 1985, the international healthcare community has considered the ideal caesarean section rate to be between 10% and 15%.In Assam, 81.4% of births in private health facilities were delivered by caesarean section, up from 70.6% in the previous NFHS. Tripura followed, with 78.3% of private-facility births delivered by C-section in NFHS-6, up from 69.3%.
