National Healthcare Scenario , India
NEW DELHI: Around 27% of India's registered doctors and almost 63% nurses aren't active anymore.
Union health ministry's presentation to the Consultative Committee, which included several MPs, admitted to some worrying trends in human resources in health.
According to joint secretary in the ministry Dr Vishwas Mehta's presentation, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has 7.5 lakh doctors registered under it.
However, Union health ministry's scrutiny has found that two lakh of the registered doctors aren't working anymore. Of the 10.7 lakh nurses registered, six lakh don't exist.
At present, there is only one doctor for every 2,000 population. The target is to have one doctor for every 1,000 population.
While the international nurse to doctor ratio is 3:1, India's count stands at 1.5:1.
Besides, the number of female allopathic doctors (medical graduates with a bachelor's or postgraduate specialist diploma or degree registered with the Indian Medical Council) is abysmally low.
Only 17% of all allopathic doctors and 6% of allopathic doctors in rural areas are women. There is less than one female allopathic doctor per 10,000 population in rural areas (0.5), whereas it is 6.5 in urban areas.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Committee that the ministry is giving a special push to nursing education.
"During the last two years, the ministry has sanctioned 132 Auxillary Nurse Midwives (ANM) and 137 General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) schools all over the country. These 269 schools will produce an additional 20,000 nurses every year. Six nursing colleges are also being established at the new AIIMS being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surakhsha Yojana and these will be functional by next year," Azad said.
A skewed distribution of medical colleges is another big problem. The ministry's presentation said 45% of medical colleges are located south India, with 47% of the MBBS seats. North India is home to 17% of the medical
Union health ministry's presentation to the Consultative Committee, which included several MPs, admitted to some worrying trends in human resources in health.
According to joint secretary in the ministry Dr Vishwas Mehta's presentation, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has 7.5 lakh doctors registered under it.
However, Union health ministry's scrutiny has found that two lakh of the registered doctors aren't working anymore. Of the 10.7 lakh nurses registered, six lakh don't exist.
At present, there is only one doctor for every 2,000 population. The target is to have one doctor for every 1,000 population.
While the international nurse to doctor ratio is 3:1, India's count stands at 1.5:1.
Besides, the number of female allopathic doctors (medical graduates with a bachelor's or postgraduate specialist diploma or degree registered with the Indian Medical Council) is abysmally low.
Only 17% of all allopathic doctors and 6% of allopathic doctors in rural areas are women. There is less than one female allopathic doctor per 10,000 population in rural areas (0.5), whereas it is 6.5 in urban areas.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Committee that the ministry is giving a special push to nursing education.
"During the last two years, the ministry has sanctioned 132 Auxillary Nurse Midwives (ANM) and 137 General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) schools all over the country. These 269 schools will produce an additional 20,000 nurses every year. Six nursing colleges are also being established at the new AIIMS being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surakhsha Yojana and these will be functional by next year," Azad said.
A skewed distribution of medical colleges is another big problem. The ministry's presentation said 45% of medical colleges are located south India, with 47% of the MBBS seats. North India is home to 17% of the medical