TS, AP will need over 10,000 healthcare professionals by 2020

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will need over 10,000 hospital management professionals in the next five years according to healthcare management and research institute IIHMR Bengaluru. Healthcare is one the major sector of spending in the Indian economy and is also the country’s principal contributor for employment generation. Nearly half of India’s population does not have access to primary healthcare.

Dr Biranchi N Jena, director, IIHMR Bengaluru, said, “The Indian private healthcare industry is expected to grow from around $ 40 billion currently to $ 280 billion by 2020. There is a huge shortage, running into a few lakhs, of healthcare staff across all levels in all states in the public and private space. There are an estimated 5,000 private hospitals in India, barring small and medium clinics, and about 7 per cent of these are located in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. There is a current requirement of 1,500-2,000 hospital management professionals in these two states, but due to non-availability of qualified professionals, they find it difficult to manage. This scarcity of quality healthcare professionals will increase further in coming years as many more new hospitals are going to be set up. We foresee that over 10,000 hospital management professionals will be needed by 2020 to meet this growing gap.”

The country is also facing pressure due to the poor reach of quality healthcare to many due to problems like access and affordability. There are around 1.65 trained allopathic doctors and nurses per 1,000 population, compared to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended guideline of 2.5 per 1,000. Total hospital bed density in the country at about 0.9 per 1000 population is well below the global average of 3.0 and the WHO guideline of 3.56.

Total healthcare expenditure in India was only 3.9 per cent of GDP, compared to 8.9 per cent for Brazil, 6.2 per cent for Russia and 5.2 per cent for China. Out of this amount, out-of-pocket expenditure accounts for 61 per cent of spend and only 26 per cent of Indians are covered by health insurance. By 2020, an estimated 97 million Indians will be aged 60 or older, up from about 64 million in 2010. The number of diabetes cases is expected to increase from nearly 65 million in 2013 to 100 million by 2030.