Himachal life expectancy stands at 65 years

Shimla, Sep 24 (UNI) With the concerted efforts of the Himachal Pradesh government and the state health department, the life expectancy in this hill state has increased to 65.9 years.

'' The government aims at enhancing the life expectancy to 67 years in the next two years'', an official spokesman here today stated. Similarly, crude birth rate and crude death rate in the state is 20.7 and 7.5 per thousand respectively. Infant mortality rate in the state is 52 per thousand and the government was making efforts to lower it to 50 per thousand in the next two years.

The spokesman said that the state government was also committed to ensure 100 per cent deliveries by trained attendants.Majority of popultion in Himachal Pradesh resides in rural areas and improvement of health status is the prime concern for the government, he added.

Each Primary Health Centre in the state covers a population of about 13,000 against National coverage of 20,000. The state government has prepared a road map for health development in the state, under which more primary health centres would be set up.

The spokesman said that the plan envisages, health for all by strengthening primary health sector, improving the quality of secondary health care, extending and increasing utilization of public health services. The government was ensuring that all the areas, where there were no health institution would be provided health facilities and every gram panchayat would have health institutions within the easy reach of the population.

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