Representational image for a Community Health Centre | Facebook
New Delhi: According to the Health Dynamics of India report on infrastructure and human resources released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Mohfw) there is an almost 80 per cent shortfall in community health centres (CHCs) in rural India. The report for 2022-23 shows that only 4,413 specialist doctors, against the 21,964 needed in rural CHCs for March 2023, were available, indicating a shortfall of 17,551, or 79.9 per cent. There are currently 5,491 rural CHCs in 757 districts across the country. Rural CHCs are designated as 30-bed facilities that provide secondary level healthcare services to nearly 160,000 people on average. They also have one operation theatre, one labour room, and one laboratory. These facilities generally include a duty medical officer, an anaesthetist, and paramedics. Apart from these, CHCs can also include four major specialist doctors: surgeons, physicians, gynaecologists, and paediatricians.
According to the report, also known as the Rural Health Statistics, there is a requirement of 5,491 surgeons, physicians, gynaecologists, and paediatricians each in rural CHCs. However, the new report shows that rural CHCs experienced a shortfall of 4,578 surgeons, or 83.3 per cent, with only 913 surgeons in position against the required 5,491. Similarly, there was a deficit of 4,078 gynaecologists, or 74.2 per cent, in rural CHCs, with only 1,442 in position against the 5,491 required, while a deficit of 81.9 per cent was recorded among physicians, with only 992 in place. A similar trend was observed among paediatricians, with only 1,066 child specialists in place at rural CHCs, leading to a shortfall of 80.5 per cent.
Previous rural health statistics indicate that the lack of specialists is worsening each year. The 2005 figures, used for comparison in the 2022-23 report, showed a shortfall of 6,110 specialists, or 44 per cent, against the required 13,884 specialist doctors in rural areas. The shortfall of specialists in CHCs increased from 17,525 in 2014-15 to 17,519 in 2020-21. The current report puts this figure at 17,551, with only 4,413 specialist doctors in place against the 21,964 needed. The Health Dynamics of India report also states that 52,116, or 31.4 per cent, of all sub-centres in rural India do not have their own buildings. These sub-centres operate either from rented buildings or spaces provided by the local village panchayat or voluntary society buildings. Of the 165,639 sub-centres across the country, 24,835 function out of rented accommodation, while 27,281 operate from village panchayat or voluntary society buildings. The report suggests that the remaining 113,532 sub-centres operate out of government buildings. Sub-centres are the most peripheral and first point of contact between the primary health care system and the community in rural India.
