Health in Punjab involves the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being of the people in Punjab, India. Data of medical facilities, diseases and nutrition is used to determine the state of health of the population.

History

Between 1896 and 1921, 12 major cholera outbreaks were recorded in Punjab province, which killed about 250,000 people. In 1901, riots were recorded in some plague-hit areas, like Gurdaspur, Patiala and Sialkot as some people refused compulsory hospitalisation and quarantine. From 1897 to 1947, more than 3,000,000 people died due to plague in Punjab province. In 1896, plague came from Hong Kong in India. In October 1897, first death from plague was reported in Punjab. Initially, the plague spread in Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts. By 1903, it had spread to almost all districts and caused large-scale causality in the province.Public response towards plague prevention policies in colonial Punjab historyjournal.net

In March 1902, in Mulkowal village in Punjab province, 19 people died from tetanus after receiving plague vaccine. Initial investigation blamed Dr. Waldemar Haffkine, who had discovered the plague vaccine, and he was fired from his position as a director of plague lab. But later investigations found that a bottle was accidentally contaminated at the inoculation site in the village and not in the lab. Haffkine was finally exonerated and allowed to return to India for employment, but he was not allowed to carry out any trials and limited to theoretical research.

Between in 1953 and 1960, an influential research called 'Khanna study' was conducted in seven villages of Ludhiana district, with field headquarters in Khanna town. Its aim was to study population dynamics and to measure the effects of population control program on birth rate. The study is generally considered a failure because very few people accepted or used contraceptive methods like vaginal foam tablets. This led to the conclusion that the mere availability of contraceptives does not ensure their use. According to anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani, this was because most people considered children as an economic necessity, as they needed large families for labour and physical security."India’s Family Planning Programme: Policies, practices and challenges", by Leela Visaria and Rajni R. Ved, Chapter 2, History of India's family planning program from inception to National Emergency, The post-independence period leading up to the Emergency, Page 51

Pentavalent vaccine was introduced in Punjab on January 7, 2015. By March 2020, COVID-19 pandemic reached Punjab. On 22 March 2020, government of Punjab imposed state-wide lockdown to combat COVID-19 pandemic in Punjab.

In 2026, the AAP-run Punjab state government has introduced the Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana scheme to provide Rs 10 lakh health insurance coverage to all families in Punjab by issuing health-cards, the first such universal health insurance coverage program in an Indian state. The state scheme works in-conjugation with the national Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Birth In 2019–21, 94.3% of the births were institutional births in Punjab, which was an increase from 90.5% in 2015–16. Of this, 53.9% were institutional births in public facility, which was up from 51.7% in 2015–16. In rural areas, the births in public facility were 57.6%, compared to 47.0% in urban areas, for year 2019–21. The percentage of home births that were conducted by a skilled health personnel was 2.6%, it was 3.0% for urban areas and 2.3% for rural areas. In 2015–16, this percentage was 4.5%. Of the total, 95.6% births were attended by a skilled health personnel, in 2019–21. For urban areas, this rate was 93.7% and 96.6% for rural areas.National Family Health Survey 5 2019 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Of the total births in Punjab, 38.5% were delivered by caesarean section in 2019–21. This number was 24.6% in 2015–16. For private health facilities, 55.5% of the births were by caesarean section, in 2019–20, compared to 29.9% for public health facilities. In 2015–16, this number was 39.7% for private and 29.9% for public health facilities. For private health facilities, the rate was 57.0% for rural areas and 53.4% for urban areas in 2019–21. For public health facilities, the rate was 29.1% in rural areas and 31.1% in urban areas, in the same year.

Life expectancy Between 2013 and 2017, the life expectancy at birth in Punjab was 72.4 years. It was 74 years for females and 71 for males.

The table below shows the life expectancy in Punjab by gender and residence in 2013–17.

+Life expectancy in Punjab in 2013–17ResidenceTotalFemaleMaleRural71.472.970.1Urban74.176.672.4Total72.47471

Estimated from civil registration and vital statistics system (CRVSS) data, the table below shows the life expectancy in the districts of Punjab, in 2012.

+Estimated life expectancy in the districts of Punjab, in 2012, based on CRVSS dataDistrictMale (Years)Female (Years)Amritsar6469Bathinda7181Barnala7076Faridkot6773Fatehgarh Sahib7277Firozpur7480Gurdaspur7076Hoshiarpur6875Jalandhar6369Kapurthala7484Ludhiana6977Mansa6976Moga7074Muktsar6966Patiala6872Rupnagar6975SAS Nagar7076Sangrur7076SBS Nagar6475Taran Taran6673

Children According to the national family health survey of 2020–21, anaemia rate in Punjab was 71.1% for children between the ages of 0 and 57 months. This was a significant increase compared to 56.6% in 2015–16. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data from 2015 to 2016, the rate stunting (low height for age) for children between the ages of 0 and 59 months was 26%, which was lower than the national average of 38%.

The table below shows the data from the state nutrition profile of Punjab of children below the age of 6, by years.

+State nutrition profile of Punjab of children below the age of 6, by yearsState Nutrition Profile: Punjab ifpri.org December 2022Indicators2019–212015–162005-6Low birth weight22%17%28%Stunting24%26%37%Wasting11%16%9%Sever Wasting4%6%2%Underweight17%12%25%Anemia71%57%66%

Women As of 2020, the percentage of deaths due to heart disease was higher in women than men, 41.8% for females compared to 32.2% for males. In the same year, the percentage of deaths due to COVID-19 was lower for women compared to men, 13.4% for males and 9.9% for females.

The table below shows the state nutrition profile of Punjab for women between the ages of 15 and 49 years.

+State nutrition profile of Punjab of women below the age of 15 to 49, by yearsIndicators2019–212015–162005-6Underweight13%12%19%Anemia (non-preg)59%54%38%Anemia (pregnant)52%42%42%Hypertension31%15%NADiabetes15%NANAOverweight/Obesity (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2)41%31%30%

In 2019, the female cervical cancer incidence rate in Punjab was 13 per 100,000 women in all ages. This was less than the rate of 14.75 in 1990. The female cervical cancer mortality rate was 7.14 per 100,000 women of all ages in 2019. This was lower than the rate of 9.34 in 1990.

Reproductive health The table below shows the current use of family planning methods by currently married women between the age of 15 and 49 years, in Punjab.

+Family planning methods used by women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, in PunjabMethodTotal (2019–21) Urban (2019–21)Rural (2019–21)Total (2015–16)Female sterilization22.8%18.0%25.6%37.5%Male sterilization0.5%0.5%0.4%0.6%IUD/PPIUD3.1%2.8%3.2%6.8%Pill1.5%1.1%1.7%2.5%Condom22.2%26.6%19.7%18.9%Injectables0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%Any modern method50.5%49.4%51.1%66.3%Any method66.6%68.4%65.4%75.8%Total unmet need9.9%8.8%10.5%6.2%Unmet need for spacing3.7%3.3%3.9%2.4%

The table below compares the reproductive health statistics women between the ages of 15 and 45 years in Punjab at the national level.

+Comparison of reproductive health statistics of women between the ages of 15 and 45 years in Punjab at national levelIndicatorsPunjab (2015–16)India (2015–16)Total Fertility Rate (TFR)1.62.2Any Method Contraception Rate (CPR)75.8%53.5%Modern Contraception Rate (mCPR)66.3%47.8%Total Unmet Need6.2%12.9%20-24 year olds who were married before the age of 18 years7.6%26.8%15–19 years olds who were already mothers or pregnant2.6%7.9%

Caste As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015–16), the infant mortality rate was 40 per 1000 live births before the age of one year for scheduled castes, compared to 29 per 1000 births for the state as a whole. The infant mortality rate for other backward castes (OBC) was 21 per 1000 live births and 22 per 1000 for those who are not from SC and OBC classes.

Although the prevalence of anaemia (low levels of haemoglobin in the blood) has been found quite high among all population groups in Punjab, it was still higher among the SC population than other groups. For the women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, the prevalence of anaemia among SC women was 56.9%, compared to 53.5% for the state as a whole. Among the children between the ages of 6 and 59 months, the rate of anaemia for SC children was 60%, compared to 56.9% for the state as a whole.

The table below compares the health status of Scheduled Caste population of Punjab, according to NFHS-3.

+Health status of Scheduled Caste (SC) population of Punjab (NFHS-3)IndicatorsSCTotalInfant Mortality Rate4644Child Mortality Rate167Anaemic (child)73.80%66.40%Anaemic (women)42.60%38.00%

The table below shows the early childhood mortality rates in Punjab by caste, according to NFHS-4 (2015–16).

+Early childhood mortality rate in Punjab by caste, according to NFHS-4 (2015–16)Background CharacteristicsSCOBCOthersTotalNeonatal Mortality27.016.917.121.2Post-neonatal Mortality12.73.65.28.0Infant Mortality39.620.522.429.2Child Mortality6.53.31.94.1Under five Mortality45.923.724.233.2

Obesity According to the National Family Health Survey 2020–21, the percentage of males in the age group of 15–49 who were obese or overweight was 32.2% in 2020–21, which an increase from the 27.8% in 2015–16. For women in the same age group, the number in 2020–21 was 40.8% which was an increase from 31.3% in 2015–16. Moreover, according to the same report, 63.1% of the men and 72.8% of the women have high risk waist-to-hip ratio, as of 2020–21.

The table below shows the overweight/obesity rate of men, women and children in Punjab.

+Overweight/Obesity rate of PunjabState Nutrition Profile: Punjab niti.gov.inAgeGroup2019–212015–162005–060–59 monthsChildren (z score > 2SD)4%2%2%15–49 yearsMen (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2)41%31%30%15–49 yearsWomen (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2)32%28%22%

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was asserted that the high death rate of covid patients in Punjab is because of the prevalence of Obesity and other diseases associated with it, like hypertension and diabetes, in the state.

As of December 2023, there were 3,473 recorded gyms in Punjab. Ludhiana was the city with most number of recorded gyms in Punjab at 449.

Diseases As of 2022, hypertension was the most prevalent non-communicable disease in Punjab, followed by diabetes and cancer. High trans-fat consumption is considered to be the main cause of heart diseases in Punjab. Out of the total medically certified deaths in 2020, 36.2% were due to diseases of circulatory system, which higher than due to COVID-19.

The burning of crop stubble by farmers, after harvesting, has been shown to be a major cause of many respiratory diseases in Punjab. As of October 2013, there were around 30 lakh arthritis patients in Punjab. Of which, around 5 lakh were at an advanced state, which required surgery. The main factors contributing to the growth of arthritis in Punjab were obesity and sedentary lifestyle. Higher levels of stress and modern lifestyle were the main reasons for the increase in arthritis among young people.

The tuberculosis (TB) rate in Punjab came down from 196 per lakh population in 2019 to 163 in 2021, which was a decline of 17%. Only Sri Muktsar Sahib district witnessed a growth of 4.26%, from an incident rate of 141 to 147 per lakh population.