Community-based health reporting.

A development monitoring service at the local level was established in 1978/79 in several communities in Kerala State (India) to collect socioeconomic and health-related data. These were collected from key community members and by household surveys using paid local staff as interviewers. Selected results for five years from three geographically distinct areas are presented, for three categories of data: health service infrastructure, infant mortality and overall morbidity, and weight and height of children under 10 years old. The three areas were a fishing village (A), a relatively remote highland community (B) and an agricultural area close to the state capital (C). During the five-year period there were rather modest improvements in the delivery of health and other services. Infant mortality rates fluctuated between 14 and 91 per 1,000 live births, reflecting the fact that the sample size (10,000 to around 25,000 for each area) was inadequate for calculating that rate. Morbidity rates also fluctuated markedly, without showing any definite trend. However, morbidity was defined as illness resulting in the inability to carry out normal activities, thus excluding cases of worm infestation and much diarrhoea, for example. A detailed analysis of reported symptoms for one year showed that respiratory tract diseases accounted for about half the cases of illness reported. The percentage of children with abnormally low weight- or height-for-age fell markedly in one area over three successive years (height-for-age from 41.6% to 33.2%, weight-for-age from 58.5% to 44.7%), but were significantly greater in another area with a higher average income, indicating that economic factors alone were not responsible for the improvement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)