Health Infrastructure in India

Published on 13 Feb 2025

India has experienced a shortage in the availability of healthcare infrastructure, which was explicitly visible during the COVID times, when there was a surge in the number of patients.

✔     Issues associated with India’s healthcare infrastructure

✔   Shortage of skilled medical professionals: India lacks a sufficient number of doctors, nurses and midwives, which affects service delivery.

●      Example: In India, the doctor-population ratio is 1:1445 (2019 data), while WHO has recommended the ratio to be 1:1000.

✔     Rural-urban divide: Majority of hospitals and doctors are concentrated in the urban areas, which occupy around one-third of the nation's population. This creates accessibility concerns for the rural people.

●      Example: Around 25% of hospitals and 11% of the hospital beds are in rural India, which holds two-thirds of India's population (IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics).

✔     Poorly maintained Primary Health Centres: There is shortage of qualified doctors at the primary health centres. Also, the infrastructure is outdated, which affects timely care.

●      Example: There is around 80% shortage of surgeons, physicians, gynaecologists and paediatricians at community health centres in rural India. Nearly 45% primary health centres work 24x7 (Rural Health Statistics 2021-20221).

✔     Interstate disparity: Uneven distribution of hospitals and professionals results in varying health standards in different parts of India.

●      Example: South Indian states like Kerala have better infrastructure when compared to Bihar.

✔     Poor facilities at hospitals: Many of the hospitals lack lifesaving equipment, which results in shifting patients to district hospitals. These delays might cost the life of the patient.

●      Example: According to a report by Medical Buyer, In India, there are only 1.7 beds per 1000 people, while it is 3 in developed nations. There is shortage of ventilators in many public district hospitals

✔     Lack of affordability: Well-equipped hospitals are usually under private ownership, which makes them not an affordable choice for the poor.

●      Example: Private sector provides 58% of hospitals and 80% of the doctors in India, which increases the cost of accessing them. (NCBI data)

✔     Poor public spending on infrastructure: Government’s spending on healthcare has been low Moreover, the spending has not given much focus on improving hospital infrastructure.

●      Example: Capital expenditure on health is only 9.7% of the total health budget in India. (Economic Survey)

Government initiatives to improve health infrastructure

✔     PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission:

●      Creating around 29000 health and wellness centres

●      Specialized critical care hospital blocks in all districts

●      National Institute for One Health

●      4 new National Institute for Virology.

●      15 biosafety level 3 labs.

✔     PM Swasthya Suraksha Yojana: For setting up AIIMS like institutions and for upgradation of government medical colleges.

✔     National Health Policy, 2017: Targets to have 2 beds per 1000 population. Health card access to primary health care facilities anytime, anywhere.

✔     PM Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi: A non-lapsable reserve fund for health, from the proceeds of health and education cess. The fund is used for strengthening health infrastructure.

Way forward

✔     Digital intervention in health: Shortage of physical infrastructure can be balanced by growth in telemedicine services.

✔     Increase public capital spending: The public spending on health should reach 2.5% and the capital spending needs to be doubled.

✔     Well-functioning primary health centres: Better qualified doctors, along with modern equipment need to be provided at primary health centres.

Hence, India needs to invest more in its health infrastructure to make India's health sector more accessible and affordable to the poor. The hospitals must be well equipped to deal with medical contingencies and must satisfy the healthcare demand of the people.

Tags:
Social Justice

Keywords:
Health Infrastructure Primary Health Centres PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission PM Swasthya Suraksha Yojana

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Social Justice