Looks like there is no stopping the downward slide of Gujarat. The health development index of Gujarat has slipped from the seventh position to the ninth in the last decade, says a recent report prepared as part of the United Nations Development Programme's global initiative. The report ascribes the problem to the 'macro-growth pattern' of the state's economy. New health issues have also cropped up lately owing to environmental reasons while 'old' diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and jaundice have steadily increased. Increasing number of women suffer from malnutrition. This dismal state of affairs persists even when Gujarat is second only to Kerala in the country when it comes to hospitals and dispensaries per lakh of the population.