Despite Haryana Government’s claims that “health for all” is a priority, the healthcare system in the state is ailing due to severe manpower shortage. The State is witnessing massive gaps in health infrastructure, with the availability of health sub-centres and primary health centres (PHCs) being far less than the requirement, as per the Rural Health Statistics 2014-15 released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Besides acute shortage of manpower in the health centres, the report pointed out that as on March 2015, as many as 2492 sub centres out of total 2569 in place in Haryana, 453 out of total 461 PHCs and 101 Community Health Centres (CHCs) out of 109 in position do not fulfill the norms laid down by Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS).
The IPHS norms state that a functional rural health centre should have basic amenities, including building, manpower, instruments and equipment, drugs, water supply, electricity, all weather road connection, and telephone, besides beds, labour rooms, operation theatres and medicines for treatment of patients.
According to the report, for the rural population of 1,65,09,359 (as per census 2011), there are a total of 2569 sub centres against the requirement of 3301 such health centres and there is a shortfall of 89 Primary Health Centres with 461 PHCs in position at present.
The sub centres, PHCs and CHCs, which forms the backbone of rural healthcare delivery apparatus are currently facing acute shortage of specialist doctors and functioning with meager manpower, as per the report.
The data reveals shortfall of 1387 health workers (male) at sub centres, 228 health assistants (male) at PHCs, 175 health assistance female at PHCs, 133 laboratory technicians in PHCs and CHCs, 62 pharmacists and shortfall of 56 radiographers in PHCs and CHCs.
What’s worse, only 30 specialists are in position in the CHCs resulting in a shortfall of 406 specialists including 102 paediatricians, 98 physicians, 103 OB&GY and 103 surgeons. Apart from this, 146 posts of doctors are lying vacant in PHCs while 98 vacant posts of nursing staff at PHC and CHCs in Haryana.
Only about 11 percent PHCs have operation theatres and around 13 percent sub centres are without regular water supply, stated the report.
Presenting a comparative statement of past one decade, the data revels that 136 new sub centres, 53 new PHCs, 37 new CHCs have been made functional since 2005. In 2005, 2433 sub centres, 408 PHCs and 72 CHCs were functioning in Haryana.
Earlier, the district-level households and facility survey-4 (DlHS-4) released last year had also pointed out acute shortage of health workers in the PHCs, CHCs, SHDs and sub-divisional centres in Haryana.The DlHS-4 had revealed worsening state of health centres and poor nutritional status in the State population. The survey stated that the prevalence of anaemia is higher in rural areas as well as urban areas in Haryana.