2002): “Health Policy Challenges for India - Private Health Insurance and Lessons from the International Experience

Over the last few decades, the Indian population has experienced great advances in its health situation. For instance, life expectancy at birth increased from 50 years in 1970 to an estimated 62 years in 1995 and is possibly even greater now. Infant mortality rates have fallen as well, from 137 per 1,000 live births in 1970 to 69 per 1,000 live births in 1991 (World Bank 1995). These are substantial improvements, but much remains to be done, relative to some its neighbors as well in terms of reducing differences in performance across states and socioeconomic groups. For instance, China has done much better, with its life expectancy at birth hovering around 70 years, and India’s neighbour, Sri Lanka, has a life expectancy of nearly 73 years (World Bank 1997). Both countries have much lower infant mortality rates as well, and in the case of Sri Lanka, less than one-quarter that of India. Again, Kerala has infant mortality rates below those in China, but states such as Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan have infant mortality rates of well over 100 per 1,000 live births in rural areas (Dreze and Sen 1995; Mahal, Srivastava and Sanan 2000). Similarly, in rural India, the infant mortality rates among the top two income quintiles are nearly 34- 50 per cent lower than the rates reported for the botto