- According to Union Health Ministry’s data, 57.3% of personnel currently practising allopathic medicine do not have a medical qualification.
- Section 15 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 prohibits a person other than a medical practitioner enrolled on a State Medical Register to practice medicine in the State.
- India has a poor doctor to patient ratio. The ratio is 1:1456 as compared with the World Health Organisation standards of 1:1000.
- Further, the distribution of health workers is uneven between urban and rural areas. According to a study based on NSSO data, rural areas with nearly 71% of India’s population have only 36% of health workers. Delhi has the highest concentration of health workers followed by Kerala, Punjab, and Haryana.
- Recently, a WHO database has put India into the “critical shortage of healthcare providers” category. India has low density of health professionals with the number being lower than those of Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, United Kingdom and Brazil.
