State needs more docs: Health secretary

PATNA: Principal secretary (health) CK Mishra on Thursday said though the number of patients coming to government hospitals for treatment has increased considerably, Bihar is still lagging behind in providing quality health services.”We are working with 50% less doctors,” he said. Mishra said that though the patients’ faith in government run hospitals had increased, the state lacks requisite manpower including doctors and buildings.”

The state run medical colleges have PG seats less than half of the requirement of the state,” Mishra said and added that the department was yet to post doctors at majority of APHCs, where auxiliary nurse midwife (ANMs) were giving basic treatment to the patients.

He said that 2,300 doctors would be recruited shortly through Bihar Public Service Commission. Another 300 from reserved category will also be appointed, he said. He further said that every Monday, a walk-in-interview is being held, where any MBBS degree holder is welcome.

He said that a centralised procurement policy for drugs was in the offing under which a corporation would be constituted to make available drugs to the district and medical college hospitals directly. It would be based on Tamil Nadu (TN) model, said Mishra and added that a target of Rs 100 crore have been fixed for drug procurement this fiscal.

Under private public partnership (PPP), the government is buying modern equipments for six government medical college hospitals. He said that every additional PHCs would soon have one Ayush doctor and added that soon Patna Ayurvedic College would be upgraded to a central institute.

On polio eradication, Mishra said that not a single case of P1 polio virus has been detected in the state since October, 2009.

Mishra said that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) has declined from 371 in 2001-03 to 312 in Bihar while the infant mortality rate (IMR) which was 61 in 2005 had come down to 56 per thousand in 2009.

A survey shows that in Bihar 9,400 mothers die every year due to pregnancy and childbirth, Mishra said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Patna/State-needs-more-docs-Health-secy/articleshow/6117202.cms