Doctor-Population Ratio 2020: Odisha Needs 43.6k Docs, Has Only 26K

Bhubaneswar: Notwithstanding the pandemic push for the registration of new doctors in Odisha, the State is witnessing an acute shortage of allopathic doctors.

An estimate puts the requirement of doctors in the State at 43,609 as against the current number of 26,924 if Odisha has to meet the national average of doctor to population ratio.

While Odisha fared better than the newly carved states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the State fared poorer than neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

The sheer negligence of Odisha in failing to have an adequate number of doctors can well be ascertained from a comparative analysis with the north-eastern states like Assam.

ODISHA VS ASSAM

The doctor crunch in Odisha can well be gauged from a comparative analysis with Assam.

When Assam with a population of over 3.6 crores had a total of 24,960 doctors as of December 31, 2020, Odisha with a population of over 4.7 crores had only 26,924 registered doctors.

As per experts, the active registered doctors in Assam stood at around 20,966. And in Odisha, the number stood at around 21,539.

The outcome on the doctor to population ratio at the end of the year 2020: In Odisha, the ratio stood at around 1 doctor per 2,187 persons. On the contrary, the ratio in Assam stood at 1:1804.

MEDICAL COLLEGES

In fact, the doctor strength in a State depends on the intake capacity of the medical colleges therein.

Despite being a smaller state, Assam has 6 medical colleges having an intake capacity of 900 students. In contrast, Odisha has only 8 medical colleges with an admission capacity of 1,250.

Odisha has over 1.1 crore population more than Assam, but have only 2 more medical colleges and an additional 350 seats.

ANDHRA PRADESH VS ODISHA

Significantly, when both the states are engaged in a battle in the court and the ground level over Kotia village, and when Andhra Pradesh has dispatched a team of doctors to the bordering village to provide basic health services to the inhabitants, the time is ripe to take a comparative look at the availability of doctors in the neighbouring State.

With a population of over 9.17 crore, Andhra Pradesh has a total of over 1.05lakh doctors. Taking into account the number of active doctors, the doctor to population ratio in the State stood at 1:1091.

MEDICAL COLLEGES

Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has a population that is nearly twice that of Odisha. Now sample the number of med colleges. AP has 13 such colleges with intake strength of 2,410.

DOCTOR - POPULATION NATIONAL AVERAGE

The national average in the year 2020 stood at 1:1080 as against Odisha's 1:2,187.

WHEN WILL ODISHA CATCH UP WITH NATIONAL AVG.?

A further glance at the data of registered doctors available with the Odisha State Medical Council (OSMC) reveals that the State had seen the maximum new doctors registered in the year 2020 (the pandemic year). The year saw a massive 4,403 doctors registered; whereas between 2017-2019, the number of new doctors registered in the State stood at a mere 840.

The analysis shows in order to achieve the national average, Odisha needs another 22,070 doctors. At the current rate of intake, the State could accomplish the national average only in the year 2026.

CAN ODISHA DO SO?

At the current intake rate capacity of medical colleges in the State, it seems unlikely. And the State government knows it very well.

For which, in January this year, the State Health Department took a far-reaching decision to allow medical pass-outs from other states to take up medical service in the State.

Only time will say whether this gamble of the State will pay off?