The doctor-patient ratio in India is less than the WHO-prescribed limit of 1:1000
On an average, a government doctor attends to 11,082 people, more than 10 times than what the WHO recommends. The shortage of government doctors does not augur well for India where 70 per cent of health care expenses are met by
out-of-pocket expenditure
Data Source: Indian Nursing Council & Pharmacy Council of India, 2018
Data Source: Medical Council of India Graph shows the list of medical colleges in India with their admission capacity in MBBS from
1991-92 to 2017-18
Data Source: Indian Nursing Council, Pharmacy Council of India
Graph shows the State/UT-wise number of government allopathic doctors and average population served in India
Data Source: Directorate of State Health Services & National Health Profile, 2018
Map shows the number of doctors registered with State Medical Councils / Medical Council of India as
on
March 31, 2018
hover over the bubble to see details
In Bihar, one government doctor serves 28,391 people. Uttar Pradesh is ranked second with 19,962 patients per doctor, which is followed by Jharkhand (18,518), Madhya Pradesh (16,996), Chhattisgarh (15,916) and Karnataka (13,556).
Delhi is better in terms of doctor-population ratio (1:2203), but it is still twice the ratio recommended by WHO. The states and UTs that are closest to meeting the WHO standards are Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur and Sikkim.
Note: The other State / UTs do not have their own Medical Registration Council. Hence, their workers get registration with the
Councils of other neighbouring States.
* 52666 doctors were registered only with MCI. They are presumably working in States / UTs which do not have a
medical register or anywhere in the country.
Data Source: Directorate of State Health Services and NHP, 2018
Did you know?
In India, on an average, a government doctor attends to 11,082 people, more than 10 times than what the WHO recommends
Rural India is bearing the maximum brunt
As of March 31, 2017, the country had a shortfall of 10,112 female health workers at primary health centres, 11,712 female health assistants, 15,592 male health assistants and more than 6,1000 female health workers and auxiliary nurse midwifes at sub-centres.
In fact, primary health centres across the country are in want of at least 3,000 doctors with 1,974 such centres operating without a single doctor. In community health centres, there is a shortfall of close to 5,000 surgeons.
Graph shows the State/UT-wise Government Health Workers in rural areas in India as on March 31, 2017
Data Source: Bulletin on Rural Health Statistics in India 2017, Statistics Division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Shortage of other medical staff
There are reportedly 462 medical colleges that churn out 56,748 doctors every year. Similarly, 3,123 institutions across the country prepare 125,764 nurses each year. However, with India’s population increasing by about 26 million each year, the increase in number of medical staff is too little.
Graph shows the number of registered nurses and pharmacists in States and UTs
hover over the graph to see details
Did you know? In India, 15,700 primary health centres are operating with just one doctor
Are we not producing enough doctors?
Last year, Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said there is a shortage of over 600,000 doctors in the country, but the crisis would end by 2022, as the number of seats in medical colleges has been increased.
Graph shows the number of doctors possessing recognised medical qualifications (Under I.M.C Act) registered with State Medical Councils/Medical Council of India from 2010 to 2017
hover over the graph to see details
In the last decade, number of medical schools in India increased from 256 (2006) to 479 (2017), of which 259 are privately owned and managed. However, issues such as inadequate teaching infrastructure and faculty have led the Union Health Ministry bar 82 medical colleges from taking admissions in 2018-19. Out of these, 70 are privately-owned. To counter the massively unregulated business of private medical education and increase seats in medical education, public-private partnership (PPP) models can be explored.
hover over the graph to see details
Note:
* Data not received from 89 colleges in 1999- 2000
© Out of 314 medical colleges, data not received from 58 Medical Colleges.
€ Out of 356 medical colleges, information from 38 medical colleges is not received in 2011-12
# Out of 381 medical colleges, information from 39 medical colleges is not received in 2012-13
^ 5 medical colleges have not given the information regarding the number of students admitted.
™ The information through student software entry for the academic year 2014-15 has not been received from approximately 41 medical colleges
^^ Out of 412 medical colleges, information from 49 medical colleges is not received for the year 2015-16
@ Out of 462 medical colleges, information from 45 medical colleges is not received for the year 2016-17
** Out of 476 medical colleges, information from 27 colleges is not received for the year 2017-18
Data Source: Medical Council of India
Graph shows the number of institutions and admission capacity/ number of admission in nursing courses in India as
on October 31, 2017
hover over the graph to see details
Did you know? States, which are the worst performers in the entrance test for admission to MBBS courses, have the highest number of registered doctors. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had the lowest pass percentage in entrance test and yet they top the list of registered doctors—153,513 and 126,399, respectively. Rajasthan, the best-performing state in entrance test, has less than half the number of registered doctors.
Why is it a matter of concern?
If the entire country wants to achieve 1:1,000 ratio, it will need 2.07 million more doctors by 2030, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Public Health, in September last year. With the government sparing just 1.3 per cent of the GDP for public healthcare, as opposed to the global average of 6 per cent, shortage of government doctors means people will continue to incur heavy medical expenditure in private health care system.
Data source:
✸ National Health Profile 2018
✸ World Health Organisation (WHO)
✸ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
✸ Rural Health Statistics, 2017
✸ Indian Nursing Council, Pharmacy Council of India
✸ Medical Council of India
✸ Indian Journal of Public Health. 2017 Jul-Sep;61(3):182-187. doi: 10.4103/ijph.IJPH_143_16
✸ Bulletin on Rural Health Statistics in India 2017, Statistics Division,Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
✸ Directorate of State Health Services
✸ National Health Profile 2018: Here’s how well India is healthwise, Indian Express
✸ Health Manpower in Rural Area, Rural Health Statistics, 2017