The number of people reporting sick is more in urban India compared to rural areas, whereas the un-treated spell is more in rural India, a NSSO survey said today.

"A Health Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has indicated that during a 15 day reference period 89 per 1,000 persons reported illness in rural India against 118 persons- Proportion (per 1,000) of Ailing Persons (PAP) in urban areas," an official statement.

However, the un-treated spell was higher in rural (both for male and female) than urban areas. Private doctors were the most important single source of treatment in both the areas, it added.

"More than 70 percent (72 percent in rural areas and 79 percent in the urban areas) spells of ailment were treated in the private sector. Inclination towards allopathic treatment was prevalent (around 90 per cent in both the sectors)," the statement said.

NSSO under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released key indicators of the’ Social Consumption in India: Health’, generated from data collected during the period January to June 2014 in its 71st round survey.

The survey on Social Consumption: Health conducted during the period January to June 2014 aimed at generating basic quantitative information on the health sector. The key indicators are based on Central sample consisting of 4,577 villages in rural areas and 3,720 urban blocks spread over all States and Union Territories of India.