India's Healthcare Infrastructure Lacks International Standards: National Health Profile

Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan recently released a National Health Profile which focuses on health care standards and the quality of  healthcare infrastructure in the country. According to the profile, our country still lags behind in its health care infrastructure. Despite all the growth and developments, the health infrastructure remains below international standards with only 6.28  lakh hospital beds and 9.18 lakh allopathic doctors for over 1.25 billion people.The Health Minister also  highlighted the difference in health facilities available to people in different states. He pointed out how the infant mortality rate in Kerala was only 66 per 1 lakh births while in Assam it stood at 328 between 2010-12. On the positive side, the overall infant mortality rate has declined from 47 in 2010 to 42 in 2012.The report has more health related data about various states, Delhi accounted for the maximum number of swine flu victims with 1511 registered cases while Gujarat at 196 reported most deaths. Madhya Pradesh reported maximum number of foeticide and infanticide cases.The health minister emphasizes on the compilation of more comprehensive and robust data so that the government can make "evidence-based intervention" in the health sector. He sought details of all government and private hospitals, their facilities and the prevalence of different ailments in different regions. "If the election commission and census officials can have the details of all 125 crore people of this country, then I am sure we can also do this," he said. He also talked about his recent visit to the United States, where he was shown real time health data being observed by the health officials there and that it felt like a "war room".

Inputs from PTI