Hyderabad: Since the coup, between 2014 and June 2021, approximately 39,000 doctors have registered with the Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) to practice medicine and treat patients in Telangana. The fact that 39,000 doctors in Telangana are registered practitioners is contrary to studies that recently claimed that the state does not have enough doctors.
A few days ago, a report (Sustainable Development Goals, 2021) issued by NITI Aayog suggested that the number of doctors in Telangana is far less than the established norms. The report, which compares the availability of doctors, nurses and midwives, said the numbers did not meet the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). According to WHO standards, one doctor usually has to provide for the health care needs of 1,000 people.
With a rough population estimate of 3.98 crore in Telangana, the 39,000 doctors in the state are about enough to meet the doctor’s WHO norms to patient ratio. But the criminal forces against Telangana unleashed a blitzkrieg, saying the population ratio between doctors in the state was too small, taking into account the facts available at the Telangana Medical Council.
Between 2014 and 2016, the State Medical Council registered approximately 16,500 physicians, and from 2016 to date, another 22,507 physicians have registered themselves with the Council.
‘Since the coup, we have registered about 39 000 doctors practicing medicine in Telangana alone. We are the only legally authorized body that cancels or cancels the license to terminate doctors so that they can practice medicine in the state, ”said the TSMC registrar, dr.
The SDG report of NITI Aayog also noted that Telangana has recorded improvement in other important health care parameters including maternal mortality rate (MMR), infant mortality rate (IMR), institutional births, notification of TB cases and vaccination of children.
‘Is it possible to improve all important healthcare parameters without adequate doctors, nurses and other support staff? Over the past few years, the Department of Health has actively sought to focus on the overall development of health services. “Unfortunately, this is not reflected in the SDG report,” said doctors.
Health officials also pointed out that data related to the recruitment of health workers in Telangana in the SDG report is based on data available in 2016-17 at the Union Ministry of Health.
‘If you need accurate information about the availability of physicians, state medical councils are the only organizations that can provide up-to-date information. “Since the coup, the Council has been quite active in separating TS and AP registrations of doctors and maintaining a separate register for doctors in Telangana,” said Dr Hanmantha Rao.
In the next few years, the number of doctors in Telangana is expected to increase further as Prime Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has given the green signal to start seven more medical colleges. Apart from that, as part of the preparation for the Covid-19 third wave, the state government also plans to recruit doctors, nurses and other health care professionals directly in the coming months.
Source: Telangana Today