Number of doctors on the rise, but ratio to patients still dismal
Sushmi Dey
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New Delhi:
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India's doctor-patient ratio continues to remain dismal despite availability of more doctors and nurses over the previous years.More than 2 lakh allopathic doctors were registered with state medical councils and Medical Council of India between 2007 and 2014, taking the total number of practitioners to around 9.4 lakh in 2014, government data showed. Besides, number of dental surgeons more than doubled, from around 73,000 in 2007 to more than 1.5 lakh in 2014.
However, despite this surge, there is one doctor for 11,528 people in government hospitals. Of all the states, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have the worst ratios. The average population served by a government dental surgeon is even higher at over 2 lakh patients but that is because 5,614 dental surgeons are working in government set-ups.
The availability of nurses, pharmacists and ayush doctors have also shown an in creasing trend, as found in the National Health Profile, 2015, released by the government.
While defining health infrastructure as “an important indicator for understanding the health care policy and welfare mechanism of the country“, the data points towards a dire state of hospital infrastructure. Every government hospital serves around 61,000 people, with one bed catering to 1833 patients.
While India continues to spend merely around 1% of its GDP on health, Centre's share of total public expenditure on health has further fallen from 35% in 2011-12 to 33% in 2012-13 and to 30% in 2013-14.
On the other hand, out of pocket expenditure on health has risen steadily over the years, with over 60% being on medicines, both in rural and urban India. However, India has shown improvement in controlling mortality from various communicable diseases such as Malaria, Kala Azar and Dengue.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com
However, despite this surge, there is one doctor for 11,528 people in government hospitals. Of all the states, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have the worst ratios. The average population served by a government dental surgeon is even higher at over 2 lakh patients but that is because 5,614 dental surgeons are working in government set-ups.
The availability of nurses, pharmacists and ayush doctors have also shown an in creasing trend, as found in the National Health Profile, 2015, released by the government.
While defining health infrastructure as “an important indicator for understanding the health care policy and welfare mechanism of the country“, the data points towards a dire state of hospital infrastructure. Every government hospital serves around 61,000 people, with one bed catering to 1833 patients.
While India continues to spend merely around 1% of its GDP on health, Centre's share of total public expenditure on health has further fallen from 35% in 2011-12 to 33% in 2012-13 and to 30% in 2013-14.
On the other hand, out of pocket expenditure on health has risen steadily over the years, with over 60% being on medicines, both in rural and urban India. However, India has shown improvement in controlling mortality from various communicable diseases such as Malaria, Kala Azar and Dengue.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com
Source: Times of India, 24-09-2015
