Even though the health sector employs five million workers in India, the skilled health professional density of the country is much lower than in other countries, revealed a recent talk organised by the Public Health Foundation of India on 'Healthcare by Non-Doctors: An Underused Resource'. As per the World Health Organization, India is among the countries with a critical shortage of 'skilled' healthcare providers with a 20.7 Human Resource for Health (HRH) as compared to the 22.8 HRH threshold per 10,000. As per the government data available, India had 19,80,536 registered nurses and registered midwives (RNRM), 8,41,279 ANMs, and 56,367 lady health visitors until January 2016. Despite the underutilisation of these trained non-doctors, data reveals that the midwife-led continuity models of care have shown tremendous results. "There are several severe health workforce challenges in India and to deliver a strong programme of primary healthcare-led Universal Health Coverage by 2030, we need to better utilise our non-doctors healthcare providers and upgrade current Primary Health Care Centers and sub-centres to Health and Wellness Centers, which will employ more healthcare workers," said Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India.

Source: dna May 09, 2019 00:33 UTC