Need for strengthening the routine reporting system of health services: A comparison of HMIS and national survey reports of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

National health surveys along with periodic continuous reporting under various health programmes, are the common ways of assessing the health problems and the condition of health services in any area of the country. The ingenuity of this report plays a major role in framing our future health policies. The report of NFHS4 for the state of Himachal Pradesh, conducted in the year 2015-16 was compared with the reporting for the reproductive and child health indicators from the HMIS for the same time period. Adifference of 10-25% exists between the two reports in terms of immunization, delivery and family planning. The survey reported a better delivery of services for
immunization and pregnant women, whereas routine reporting demonstrated a better performance in family planning. The cause of discrepancies between our national reporting system and surveys need to be identified to get a more realistic view of the ground realities.