Public Healthcare Sector: Is Losing Its Importance in Rural Tamil Nadu?

Abstract

In India, though Tamil Nadu is one of the best performing states in health, it is losing its importance in many areas. There is no specialist in Community Health Centres (CHCs) functioning in Tamil Nadu; all specialist posts are vacant, though there is excess number of doctors in primary health centres (PHCs) and enough number of SCs (sub-centres), PHCs and CHCs. The number of PHCs functioning without lady doctors is also the maximum in Tamil Nadu. The shortfall of health workers in PHCs and CHCs is also very much, female health workers (the 2nd highest) and male health workers (the third highest among the states taken for discussion). In the shortfall of female health assistants in PHCs also Tamil Nadu shows a backward position. Operation theatre facility is available only in 6% of PHCs functioning in Tamil Nadu, but Gujarat is having this facility in all its PHCs. On the basis of rural population served, rural area covered, number of villages covered and radial distance covered, Tamil Nadu is not a better placed state. The budget allocation in revenue budget is continuously falling and the fall is very much in Tamil Nadu in comparison with other states except Odisha. All these force the people of Tamil Nadu to make use of private hospitals instead of public healthcare sector (only about 40%).