Patna, Jan 3 (Agency) Principal Investigator for Indian Medical Academy of Preventive Health Dr Naresh Purohit alleged that legacy of constant neglect has led to pathetic health care in Bihar where many hospitals do not have doctors, and their pharmacies turn away patients lining up for medicines. Voicing his concern about the government’s failure to strengthen health infrastructure the noted Epidemiologist Dr Purohit told UNI here that Bihar reportedly, has the worst doctor-to-population ratio across all Indian states with just 2,792 doctors in the whole state. This indicates that 43,788 people were effectively being served by a single doctor.
Bihar’s poor health infrastructure has grabbed headlines several times in the past few years, he alleged. According to the latest data, Bihar has only approximately 2,000 primary health centres and 150 community health centres to cater to its massive population, he maintained. Executive Member of the Federation of Hospital Administrators – Dr Purohit averred that the Centre’s introduction of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005 infused resources into the system and spurred some significant changes in primary health care delivery and improvement of important indicators like an infant, child and maternal mortality. But the overall system never developed enough to meet the needs of the growing population, especially in Bihar. “Ironically, even the growth of the organised private sector, especially tertiary care services, remained limited to the capital city of Patna. The current government’s flagship programme, Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, has also failed to take off in the state.” he added.
The renowned medic said that according to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in the state legislature in March 2022 the second-tier health system in Bihar is crumbling and there are massive shortfalls in health facilities. Some district health centres were found to have only about 30 per cent of the required beds for patients. The CAG report said the state health department has failed to increase the bed strength since 2009. “Report also pointed out that there was a persistent shortage of MBBS doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and lab technicians from 2014 to 2020.” he added. He revealed that the health infrastructure remains poor, with thousands of patients – primarily poor and marginalised – visiting OPDs and returning without treatment due to the unavailability of doctors and non-operational ultrasound and X-Ray machines. “Umpteen district hospitals didn’t provide basic OPD (outpatient) services towards 12 to 15 significant OPD curative services like cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, endocrinology, oncology, skin and venereal diseases, psychiatry, ear, nose and throat (ENT) due to shortage of specialist doctors and infrastructure, like building,” he observed. Referring to the WHO’s data he said that according to it India ranks 184th out of 191 countries in terms of share of GDP spent on healthcare.