Context: According to the recent Abridged Life Tables report for the period of 2015-19, the average Indian can expect to live about 69.7 years, around two years more than the life expectancy 10 years ago.

Key findings of the report

• The life expectancy level in India is well below the estimated global average life expectancy of 72.6 years.
• Life expectancy at age one and age five in this period suggests high infant and under-five mortality could be the reason that India finds it difficult to raise life expectancy at birth faster.
• The gap between life expectancy at birth and life expectancy at age one or age five is the biggest in states with the highest infant mortality (IMR), Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
• In Uttar Pradesh, with the second-highest IMR of 38, life expectancy jumps the highest, by 3.4 years, on completion of the first year.
• In Madhya Pradesh, with the highest IMR of 43, surviving the first year after birth raises life expectancy by 2.7 years.
• Over 45 years, India had added about 20 years to its life expectancy at birth from 49.7 in 1970-75 to 69.7 by 2015-19.
• Bangladesh and Nepal, which had lower IMRs than India (24 compared to 28), now have a higher life expectancy at birth of 72.1 and 70.5 respectively.
• Japan has the highest life expectancy of 85.  Norway, Australia, Switzerland, and Iceland had a life expectancy of 83.
• The Central African Republic had the lowest life expectancy of 54 followed by Lesotho and Chad at 55 in 2020.

Key  challenges highlighted by the report

• Challenges with infants: Indian babies, especially girl children, still have a low chance of survival at birth and infancy.
• For instance, the latest abridged sample registration system data shows that the gap between life expectancy at birth and that at ages one or five has improved by only about 20 years over a 45-year period.
• Life expectancy is not even throughout India: States in the north and east of India have a lower life expectancy. Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh became the worst performers on life expectancy with 65.6 years and 65.3 years respectively.
• Difference between rural and urban India: There are wide discrepancies between rural and urban life expectancy, which can vary as much as five to eight years.

Key steps taken to improve life expectancy

Since 1975, 

• a) the Indian government has run a massive programme that was set up to focus on the health and nutrition needs of children under six years of age. 
• b) A large network of anganwadi centres was set up, and 
• c) Almost every state offered mid-day meal schemes in their schooling system, 
• d) Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) boasts being one of the largest such programmes in the world.

Key reason for India’s poor showing on life expectancy

• a) Abysmal access to medical infrastructure for the average Indian, particularly women, 
• b) Over the years, both budgetary allocations and institutional attention to the implementation of ICDS and related schemes appear to have reduced. This results in far lower coverage and 
• c) Major beneficiaries of government schemes such as ICDS and MDMS have been middle and lower-middle class children rather than the poor and marginalised.
• The findings on life expectancy suggest that an urgent course correction is long overdue to improve life expectancy.