600 PHCs for 12,000 gram panchayats in Telangana, IMA calls rural well being system unsustainable

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Telangana has warned that the State’s rural healthcare system is on the snapping point, with solely 600 major well being centres (PHCs) catering to greater than 12,000 gram panchayats. The extreme scarcity of certified medical professionals in villages and mandals has left residents depending on unqualified practitioners and unscientific therapy strategies, posing a critical menace to public well being, it added.

In a memorandum submitted to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, representatives of IMA Telangana defined the effectiveness of the Kerala healthcare mannequin, the place practically 99% of gram panchayats are linked to PHCs that present 24/7 companies, together with deliveries and surgical procedures. In addition, Kerala’s group well being centres (CHCs) operate as 100-bed hospitals outfitted with specialists at each mandal headquarters. Telangana, in contrast, lacks comparable infrastructure or staffing, it famous.

“The absence of satisfactory medical amenities in rural areas has led to the unchecked unfold of quackery and unscientific practices. This has additionally pressured the general public to spend a significant portion of their revenue on personal healthcare,” president of IMA Telangana Dwarakanatha Reddy mentioned.

The affiliation expressed concern that regardless of the fast growth of medical schooling in Telangana, with 66 medical schools, each authorities and personal, now working throughout the State, the companies of certified professionals usually are not being totally utilised. “Each 12 months, round 9,000 medical doctors, 6,000 specialists and three,000 super-specialists graduate, however their experience will not be reaching the individuals who want it most,” mentioned Dr Reddy.

IMA Telangana additional drew consideration to the proliferation of superstition-based therapies and spiritual practices that proceed to use poor and illiterate communities. “Age-old strategies resembling pasarla vydyam, katla vydyam and numerous mantras and tanthras are nonetheless prevalent in a number of villages,” the affiliation mentioned, warning that such practices trigger hurt beneath the guise of religion and custom.