Shortfall of PHCs in urban areas: Report

A Union Health Ministry report released on Monday revealed that India has a total of 31,882 Primary Health Centres (PHCs). Of this, 25,354 are in rural areas.

The report, Health Dynamics of India (Infrastructure and Human Resources) 2022-23, pointed out that urban areas have a shortfall of PHCs by 36.7 per cent. There are only 6,528 PHCs in urban areas against the requirement of 9,793.

The report further stated that the country has a total of 1,69,615 sub-centres, 6,359 community health centres (CHCs), 1,340 sub-divisional hospitals and 714 district hospitals.

The number of doctors at the PHCs increased to 32,901 in 2023 from 30,640 in 2022, thereby witnessing a marginal spike of 7.37 per cent.

The report was released by Health Secretary Apurva Chandra. He said the report was a valuable document in policy making.

“It gives a cross-analysis across states on the availability and deficiencies in manpower and infrastructure. The data is immensely helpful in understanding the requirements of states, their priority areas and formulating policies and targeted campaigns. The health statistics also aids in making a comparison in the performance of states on different parameters,” he stated.

Chandra also pointed at the need to integrate the Health Management Information System portal with Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) and other portals of the ministry to reduce the burden of work of health functionaries and to ensure that the data is uploaded timely and analysed carefully.