Bhubaneswar: Odisha slipped by one spot from 18^th to 19^th in terms of overall health performance in the second health index launched by NITI Aayog. Kerala has emerged as the top ranking state.

The second round of the health index took into account the period 2015-16 (base year) to 2017-18 (reference year).

The health index is a composite measure of States and Union Territories based on 23 health indicators with major weightage to the outcomes.

In February 2018, the first round of the health index was released, which measured the annual and incremental performances of States and UTs for period 2014-15(base year) to 2015-16 (reference year).

The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with technical assistance from the World Bank.