BS Number Wise: Not enough doctors, nurses amid India's medical crisis

India had 1.16 million doctors, of whom only 80 per cent, or 0.9 million, were working, the health ministry told Parliament in late 2019

Topics
Coronavirus Tests | nurse | Indian doctors

Ishaan Gera 

The coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed India’s healthcare system. One critical gap doesn’t get attention, though: The country’s acute shortage of doctors and nurses. India had 1.16 million doctors, of whom only 80 per cent, or 0.9 million, were working, the health ministry told Parliament in late 2019. This results in 0.68 doctors for every 1,000 people.

The WHO prescribes a ratio of 1:1000. As many as 70,262 students graduated with a MBBS degrees in India in 2019-20. If only 80 per cent join medical work, it would take another seven years to reach the WHO standard. If ...

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First Published: Wed, June 23 2021. 06:10 IST
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