01/04/2021 - Health

KEY POINTS

Health workers were globally applauded for their tireless and assiduous services during the Covid-19 for their role in dispensing healthcare and saving lives.

Shortage of workforce

·        States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu having high health workforce population ratio also have high population health outcomes.

·        The density of health workforce in India is not even half of the 44.5 health workers per 10,000 persons as recommended by the WHO for achieving universal health coverage.

·        The density of qualified active health workforce in India is as low as 12-13 doctors (including AYUSH practitioners) and nurses/midwives per 10,000 persons.

Skewed distribution

·        The distribution of these health workers is acutely skewed with the less developed states like Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh health worker population ratio of as low as 6-8 health workers per 10,000 persons.

·        More than 60% of doctors and a little over 50% of nurses/midwives are employed in the private sector.

Need for workforce

·        The central government announced setting up of new educational institutions157 medical colleges and about 50 nursing institutions in different phases.

·        These institutions are likely to produce about 22,500 doctors and 2,000 nurses every year.

·        This implies that even if 100% of the new graduates join health workforce, it will take more than 10 years to add 2.5 lakh health professionals to the existing qualified active health workforce.

·        India needs big investment to meet even the minimum threshold of 22.8 health workforce per 10,000 persons.

·        It’s needed to open new institutions for producing doctors and nurses, and create conducive environment and attractive pay packages.

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