Doctor Patient Ratio: Current Trends in India

The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare has stated the following data in Lok Sabha:

• In India, there is one doctor for every 1,457 people which is lower than the World Health Organisation norm of 1:1000.
• 57 lakh allopathic doctors are registered with the state medical councils and the Medical Council of India. Assuming availability of 80 per cent around 9.26 lakh doctors may be actually available for active service.
• India’s current population is estimated to be 1.35 billion. The doctor-patient ratio comes around to 1 doctor for every 1,457 people.
• On the other hand, there are about 7.88 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy (AUH) doctors in India.
• If 80 per cent availability is assumed, an estimated around 6.30 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy (AUH) doctors would be actually available for service.
• If considered together with allopathic doctors, it gives a doctor population ratio of 1:868.

To address the shortage of doctors, the government has taken the following steps:

• Increasing undergraduate seats, enhancement of maximum intake capacity at MBBS level from 150 to 250 and relaxation in the norms of setting up of medical college in terms of the requirement for land, faculty, staff, bed/bed strength and other infrastructure.
• Upgrading the state government and central government medical colleges
  by increasing the MBBS seats and new medical colleges attached with district/referral hospitals were set up preferably in under-served districts of the country.
• Increasing the number of postgraduate seats. The government has revised the ratio of teachers to students from 1:1 to 1:2 for all MD/MS disciplines and from 1:1 to 1:3 in subjects of Anesthesiology, Forensic Medicine, Radiotherapy, Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology and Psychiatry.

The government has further increased teacher-student ratio in public-funded government medical colleges for professor has been increased from 1:2 to 1:3 in all clinical subjects.