Resources
One of UC's efforts is to study and present to information and perspectives on various facets of the sectors in which UC works. Highlighting bottlenecks and opportunities in these sectors could potentially encourage different stakeholders to act on these issues, independently or in collaboration.
Health
The interplay of Financial, Technical, Infrastructure and Human Resources has a bearing on how the health care system in the country functions. The following section would continue to be updated with relevant information on these areas:
There are concerns raised almost every time a survey shows that a staggering majority of people, including the poor, go to a private health care facility instead of a public health facility, for medical attention. The general tendency is to attribute this to the inefficiencies in the public health system. But it may be unfair to attribute this entirely to inefficiencies. The public health system has access to a very small percentage of Doctors, the key human resources in the health care system, which leads to a disproportionate load on the public health system. The following table presents data on this point:
|
Doctors with Government Institutions | ||
|
Total number of Government Doctors (as in 2008) |
84,852 |
11.7% |
|
Number of Doctors at PHC( as on 31-Mar-07) |
22,608 |
3.1% |
|
Number of Specialists at CHC(as on 31-Mar-07) |
5,117 |
0.7% |
|
Total number of Registered Doctors in India ( as in 2008) |
725,190 |
100.0% |
We are equally concerned when studies talk about the high percentage of expenditure incurred by rural people towards non medical expenses like travel and accommodation, while seeking medical care. The following data might explain why this could be so. While an estimated 70% of population lives in rural areas, less than 30% of the Government hospital beds are in rural areas. Consequently, they would often have to travel to urban centers to get treated, which adds to their costs.
|
Beds in Government Hospital including CHCs (with data for most states available from 2008 and 2009) | ||
|
Number of Rural Hospital Beds |
142,396 |
28.8% |
|
Number of Urban Hospital Beds |
324,206 |
65.6% |
|
Number of Beds without bifurcation of Rural or Urban |
27,908 |
5.6% |
|
Total Hospital Beds |
494,510 |
100.0% |
Provided below is some of the data on Government Health Infrastructure.
|
Government Health Infrastructure (as on 31-Mar-07) |
|
|
Number of Community Health Centers-CHCs |
4,045 |
|
Number of Primary Health Centers-PHCs |
22,370 |
|
Number of Sub Centers |
145,272 |
Note: The data in the above tables is available at Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India,http://www.cbhidghs.nic.in/