The consequence of overcrowded living, poor environmental conditions and lack of access to services is the poor health status of these people. Re-analysis of NFHS-3 data according to the Standard of Living Index has revealed that only 56.9 per cent of children among Maharashtra’s urban poor receive complete immunisation, more than 52.5 per cent of urban poor women were anaemic and 45.2 per cent children are underweight. Similarly, an analysis of the District Level Health Survey conducted by the health ministry between 2002 and 2004 found that 75 per cent of child births among the urban poor in Punjab and Haryana take place at home, putting the life of both the mother and the newborn at great risk. Less than one-third of children among Punjab’s urban poor and less than one-fourth of Haryana’s urban poor children received the recommended vaccinations by one year of age. This leads to high infant/child mortality in the region.

Such inequitable access to health care is unacceptable in a country with a GDP growth rate of 9 per cent. The urban poor contribute significantly to the country’s economy. It is in India’s interest therefore to focus on this section.

The writer is executive director, Urban Health Resource Centre, New Delhi