Udupi (Karnataka): President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday lamented the lack of healthcare infrastructure and staff in the country, particularly in the rural area, and expressed hope more investments would help bridge the gap.
After laying the foundation stone for a super speciality hospital here, he said creating better health infrastructure through investments has helped cure several diseases but “there remains a huge gap yet”.
The president said, the country requires not only accessible but affordable medical facilities. “Against the international norm of a doctor per thousand population, we have one doctor for 1,700 people in our country,” he rued. “No civilised society can tolerate this,” he said. The situation is more alarming in the rural India where the shortage of surgeons is estimated to the tune of 83 per cent.
The overall shortage translates to 81.2 per cent as on 2015. The president offered solutions to help overcome some of the challenges. (PTI)
