Shocking: Only 1 doctor for 13,154 patients in rural Odisha
Bhubaneshwar: Vacancies of Doctors and specialists at Primary Healthcare centres(PHCs) and Community Healthcare Centres(CHCs) in rural Odisha seemed to have reached its peak in 2016. This resulted in the doctor patient ratio in rural areas also rising to a phenomenal 1: 13,154 against the state average of 1:2,323. Meanwhile, the national average standing at 1: 1668.
The figure differences in the doctor : population ratios between the rural and urban is an indication to the high density of doctors in the urban areas, which includes doctors in private hospitals and clinics.
The State Medical Council statistics reveal that Odisha has 19,000 registered practitioners. However, doctors in the government run health centres including medical college hospital stand at a minimal figure of 3,500.
The Odisha state however does not suffer from a paucity of doctors as the number of doctors produced by medical colleges along with the sustained strength of working doctors, excluding the retired lot comes to a conservative figure of 8,500. However, those employed by state run facilities number below 4000, which is indeed a challenge for the government.
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