The COVID-19 pandemic is often thought of as an urban phenomenon. This is not the case. Reports indicate that hotspots of the disease, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or the coronavirus, are springing up in India’s rural communities. This is a concerning trend – especially considering that healthcare infrastructure in rural […]
rural healthcare
Rural Gujarat still struggles with doctor shortages
In the state of Gujarat, recruiting doctors to fill positions in government hospitals remains a challenge – with rural Gujarat bearing the brunt. In 2018 and 2019, the state government recruited 2,228 graduates of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) courses. However, a mere fourteen percent of them – translating to just 321 medicos […]
Kerala doctors to work on boosting access to health in rural areas
The Kerala chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is working to expand access to healthcare in rural areas of the state. Around sixty percent of doctors in India work in urban areas, despite seventy percent of the population living in rural areas. Although Kerala is one of the most highly-ranked states on health parameters […]
Quackery: An epidemic in India?
Chennai is on alert against quack doctors, whom officials say vex the city every year during its fever season. The news comes as a reminder of the epidemic of quackery in India: unqualified, unlicensed practitioners account for a staggering proportion of the country’s healthcare workforce. In the past decade, an estimated 1,500 quack doctors have […]
Adityanath announces rural health boon
In a move to improve access to healthcare in rural areas, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that government medical college graduates in Uttar Pradesh will be required to work for two years in villages. Speaking at an event to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Ayushman Bharat, the Chief Minister said that the village work requirement […]
India’s shortage of specialist doctors is still staggering
July 1st marked Doctors’ Day – and while the occasion was an opportunity to thank the medical professionals who work to ensure good health, it also was a bitter reminder of the public health crisis India is facing. The government has put a figure to the mammoth medical staff shortage India is battling. The new […]
The death toll of sepsis in India
A recent study has revealed that 34 percent of sepsis patients in India die in the intensive care unit (ICU). The new data builds on the foundation of previous studies published in 2017 that covered the five-year experience of the sepsis mortality rates for ICU, in-hospital, and post 28 days to be 56 percent, 63 […]
Blood tests for brain injuries: A boon to rural healthcare?
India has the highest rate of head injury in the world. In India, over 100,000 lives are lost every year with over one million people suffering serious head injuries. One in six individuals in India who suffer brain trauma die. This is a startling figure compared to the figure of one out of every 200 […]
New app-based scheme for ASHAs to fight diabetes
’IMPACT Diabetes’, a new digital tech-based program, is on the scene to help ASHAs in rural India manage its emerging diabetes crisis. “Diabetes is one of India’s greatest public health challenges” Diabetes is one of India’s greatest public health challenges. A combination of genetic predisposition, sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets means it has become the […]
Rural healthcare: 3 percent of doctors, 70 percent of the population
Rural populations are estimated to make up 70 percent of the total population in India. Despite this only three percent of doctors operate out of rural locations. This creates the foundations of a highly unequal healthcare system in which those in rural areas often fall through the gaps in terms of access. Many in India […]