Composition and distribution of the health workforce in India: estimates based on data from the National Sample Survey.
Date
2016-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia
Abstract
Background: The availability of reliable and comprehensive information on the
health workforce is crucial for workforce planning. In India, routine information
sources on the health workforce are incomplete and unreliable. This paper
addresses this issue and provides a comprehensive picture of India’s health
workforce.
Methods: Data from the 68th round (July 2011 to June 2012) of the National
Sample Survey on the Employment and unemployment situation in India were
analysed to produce estimates of the health workforce in India. The estimates
were based on self-reported occupations, categorized using a combination of both
National Classification of Occupations (2004) and National Industrial Classification
(2008) codes.
Results: Findings suggest that in 2011–2012, there were 2.5 million health
workers (density of 20.9 workers per 10 000 population) in India. However, 56.4%
of all health workers were unqualified, including 42.3% of allopathic doctors,
27.5% of dentists, 56.1% of Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
homoeopathy (AYUSH) practitioners, 58.4% of nurses and midwives and 69.2%
of health associates. By cadre, there were 3.3 qualified allopathic doctors and
3.1 nurses and midwives per 10 000 population; this is around one quarter of
the World Health Organization benchmark of 22.8 doctors, nurses and midwives
per 10 000 population. Out of all qualified workers, 77.4% were located in urban
areas, even though the urban population is only 31% of the total population of the
country. This urban–rural difference was higher for allopathic doctors (density 11.4
times higher in urban areas) compared to nurses and midwives (5.5 times higher
in urban areas).
Conclusion: The study highlights several areas of concern: overall low numbers
of qualified health workers; a large presence of unqualified health workers,
particularly in rural areas; and large urban–rural differences in the distribution of
qualified health workers.
Description
Keywords
health-worker distribution, health workers in India, health workforce, human resources for health
Citation
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health 2016;5(2): 133-140.