February 15,2023
Less than half the Primary Health Centres function on a 24x7 basis India’s rural healthcare system continues to be plagued by shortfall on two critical fronts — doctors and infrastructure. There is a shortage of 83.2 per cent of surgeons, 74.2 per cent of obstetricians and gynaecologists, 79.1 per cent of physicians and 81.6 per cent of paediatricians, according to the Rural Health Statistics 2021-2022 released last week. Less than half the Primary Health Centres (PHC), 45.1 per cent, function on a 24x7 basis. Of the 5,480 functioning Community Health Centres (CHC), only 541 have all four specialists, showed the document released by the Union health ministry. In the Indian healthcare system, sub-centres (SC) are the first point of contact for a patient, catering to a population of 3,000-5,000. This is succeeded by a PHC, which is required to look after the daily needs of 20,000-30,000 people