At 69.4 years, India’s life expectancy has made almost a 20 year leap from 49.7 in 1970-75. While this is no mean feat, the sobering reality is that Japan was here in 1960 and China in 1990. The link between poverty and life expectancy is fairly obvious looking at the India story. People in Delhi, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with lower incidence of extreme poverty live longer than the national average. Poorer states like Chhattisgarh, UP, MP, Assam, Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand drag down life expectancy.

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Worries that India’s current economic difficulties are turning the clock back in the fight against poverty make life expectancy a key indicator to track. Countries like Nepal and Bangladesh had lower life expectancy than India in the 1980s, but they have now pulled ahead. Apart from the incidence of poverty, access to public health services could be an equally important factor separating Indian states.

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This is borne out by infant mortality and maternal mortality rates largely correlating with life expectancy. Kerala’s IMR is 7 per 1,000 live births, Delhi’s 13 and TN’s 15 against 48 in MP, 43 in UP and 41 in Assam.

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The Covid pandemic may be a short term phenomenon. But its effect on lives and health services has multiple dimensions with generational implications. State outreach like immunisation and supplemental nutrition schemes took a backseat this year. Treatments became harder to access, evident in statistics of fewer surgeries, procedures and OPD visits for heart diseases, cancer, TB etc. The loss of incomes and livelihoods will force many to scrimp on meals and protein-rich foods. A vigorous public health response to neutralise these setbacks is needed.

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