To cut doc shortage, govt adds over 10,500 MBBS seats this year
TNN | Jul 13, 2019, 04.54 AM IST
NEW DELHI: In an attempt to address shortage of doctors in the country, the government has ramped up MBBS seats by more than 26% over last two years, taking the total number of MBBS seats to around 75000. Besides, nearly 8900 seats have been added to PG medical seats during the period to bolster the number of specialists.
In 2017-18 and 2018-19, a total of 5250 MBBS seats were added, whereas 10,565 — more than double of what was added in last two years — have been added in 2019-20 so far, health minister Harsh Vardhan said in Lok Sabha on Friday. Of this, around 4,800 MBBS seats have been reserved for students from economically weaker sections in the current year.
Currently, there are nearly 11.60 lakh registered Allopathy doctors in the country as on March, resulting in a doctor-population ratio of 1:1456 as per current population estimate of 1.35 billion, which is lower than the WHO norm of one doctor per 1000 persons.
However, there are an additional 7.88 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy doctors, which when clubbed with allopathy practitioners, makes the overall doctor-population ratio of 1:867—a shade better than WHO norms. The health ministry is trying to utilise this cadre of alternative medicines to meet demand for primary and secondary health care services, mainly in remote areas where there is a severe dearth of doctors.
TNN | Jul 13, 2019, 04.54 AM IST
NEW DELHI: In an attempt to address shortage of doctors in the country, the government has ramped up MBBS seats by more than 26% over last two years, taking the total number of MBBS seats to around 75000. Besides, nearly 8900 seats have been added to PG medical seats during the period to bolster the number of specialists.
In 2017-18 and 2018-19, a total of 5250 MBBS seats were added, whereas 10,565 — more than double of what was added in last two years — have been added in 2019-20 so far, health minister Harsh Vardhan said in Lok Sabha on Friday. Of this, around 4,800 MBBS seats have been reserved for students from economically weaker sections in the current year.
Currently, there are nearly 11.60 lakh registered Allopathy doctors in the country as on March, resulting in a doctor-population ratio of 1:1456 as per current population estimate of 1.35 billion, which is lower than the WHO norm of one doctor per 1000 persons.
However, there are an additional 7.88 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy doctors, which when clubbed with allopathy practitioners, makes the overall doctor-population ratio of 1:867—a shade better than WHO norms. The health ministry is trying to utilise this cadre of alternative medicines to meet demand for primary and secondary health care services, mainly in remote areas where there is a severe dearth of doctors.
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