Rural Health Statistics Report 2021-22: Key Findings and Implications

January 14, 2023

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has recently released the Rural Health Statistics Report 2021-22, providing a comprehensive overview of the state of rural healthcare infrastructure and human resources in India. This report is an annual publication by MoHFW since 1992, which is based on data uploaded by states and union territories on the Health Management Information System (HMIS) portal and verified by respective states. The report serves as a vision document in identifying the gaps in the existing healthcare infrastructure and human resources in rural, urban and tribal areas of the country and is an important source of information for citizens.

Rural Health Statistics 2021-22: Key Highlights of the Report

Health Centers

The RHS estimates as of 31 March, 2022, has revealed that each sub center (SC) catered to an average of 5691 people, each Primary Health Centers (PHC) to 36049 people and each Community Health Centers (CHC) to 164027 people. As per norms, each SC is supposed to cater to a population of 3,000-5,000, each PHC to a population of 20,000-30,000 and each CHC to a population of 80,000-1,20,000.

Urban Health Statistics

There is a vacancy of 18.8% of doctors, 16.8% of pharmacists, 16.8% of lab technicians and 19.1% of staff nurses at the U-PHCs (Urban PHCs). The population covered by a U-PHC may vary from 50,000 to 75,000. Urban Community Health Centre (U-CHCs) is set up as a referral facility for every 4-5 U-PHCs. The U-CHC caters to a population of 2,50,000 to 5 lakhs.

Rise in Number of Allopathy Doctors

There has been an over 50% rise in the number of allopathy doctors in primary health centers since the launch of the National Rural Health Mission in 2005. The allopathic doctors at PHCs have increased from 20,308 in 2005 to 30,640 in 2022.

Shortage of Specialist Doctors

The RHS report also highlights the acute shortage of specialist doctors in the country, with a shortfall of nearly 80% of the required specialists at Community Health Centers (CHCs). CHCs are 30-bed block-level health facilities that are supposed to provide basic care related to surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, and general medicine. There are 6,064 CHCs across India, and the Health Ministry has been unsuccessful in meeting the requirement for specialist doctors in most of these centers. The report points out that there is a shortfall of specialist doctors, including surgeons (83.2%), obstetricians and gynecologists (74.2%), physicians (79.1%), and pediatricians (81.6%).

Apart from specialist doctors, there is also a shortage of female health workers and auxiliary nursing midwives, with up to 14.4% of these posts lying vacant in PHCs and SCs.

About Rural Health Statistics Report

The Rural Health Statistics Report is an annual publication of MoHFW since the year 1992. This report provides data on health infrastructure including manpower up to 31st March of every year. The publication is based on the data uploaded by States/UTs on Health Management Information System (HMIS) Portal and is published only after getting verified by respective States/UTs. The HMIS portal provides periodic reports on the status of the health services performances and Human Resources and Infrastructure services facilities available. It serves as a vision document in identifying the gaps in the existing Healthcare Infrastructure and Human Resources in rural, urban and tribal areas of the country.

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