By IANS,
New Delhi : It’s not just villages in the country which are facing healthcare problems due to lack of medical practioners. A fresh study by an industry lobby Monday revealed that the national capital is facing a shortage of 12,500 doctors.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said that there were merely 5,500 doctors for a population of over 10 million people.
The Assocham health committee headed by B.K. Rao, chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said though the number of doctors treating 10 million people in Delhi has increased from the pre-2000 era, the huge flow of patients from across the country to Delhi requires additional doctors.
“Delhi is a leading medical centre. It receives huge inflow of outside patients, particularly from states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and various other parts of the country. The number of doctors is completely inadequate,” the study said.
“In view of increasing inflow of number of patients, the requirement for additional doctors in Delhi has gone up by 12,500,” it added.
Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said medical institutions like AIIMS produce nearly 100 qualified doctors every year in addition to 180 from Maulana Azad Medical College and 100 each from Lady Hardinge Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital. But 33 percent of these prefer to pursue higher studies.
The industry lobby stressed the need to increase the number of medical seats in the capital.