Health for Development: A District Level Study in West Bengal

Healthy population is considered to be the engine of economic growth. The present paper constructs composite indicators of health infrastructure and current health status for a constituent state of India using principal component method and examines the interlinkage between them as well as that between health status and economic development. Relative position of the districts within the state is explored to identify the determinants of health status using simple econometric exercise. Results indicate strong relation between primary health infrastructure and preventive & curative health achievements. Close relation between health status of a district and district domestic product underlines the role of health in determining socioeconomic situation of a region. Gaps in health infrastructure in the region need to be taken care of to tap the full economic potential of the region.