India topped in under-five deaths in 2015, says study

Yet another report on India's health care system has pointed out country's abysmal performance on various health indicators, despite the country's economic growth. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study, 2015, which shows the key drivers of ill health, disability and death in individual countries, found India - at 1.3 million - recording the largest number of under-five mortality by any country in 2015.

India performed worse than expected on tuberculosis, with the data also depicting a rise in self-harm deaths from 1990 to 2015.

According to the report published in the Lancet, nearly half of all self-harm deaths occur in India and China, with the study noting a decrease in China.

In India, cardiovascular disease accounts for a large, increasing proportion of deaths. Neighbouring "Bangladesh has improved maternal survival much faster than expected; while India and Nepal fared poorly," the report said.

The highest rates of death due to drowning in 2015 were reported in island nations of Oceania and in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and sub-Saharan African countries. Globally, drowning is a leading cause of death in children under five years old.

Significantly, ambient particulate matter pollution ranked as the third leading risk factor in India and Nepal, whereas smoking was the second leading risk factor for attributable burden in Bangladesh.

According to the report, most countries in the South Asia region did better than expected at reducing health loss from stroke (India, Pakistan) and lower respiratory infections (Bangladesh, Nepal).