Telangana at the bottom of South India’s healthcare ladder
HYDERABAD: Telangana has ended up last among the five south Indian States, according to NITI Aayog’s second Health Index report for 2017-2018. This is possibly a stark indicator of the snail’s pace at which progress is being made on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s ambitious health schemes.
While the State managed to increase its rank nationally by one position — from last year’s 11th position to 10th position this year — neighbouring Andhra Pradesh emerged as a big winner, bagging the second position nationally, a six-position jump from last year’s eighth position. Kerala continued with its winning streak and topped the national list. Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, took the biggest hit, falling from the third to the ninth position.
However, the faintest ray of hope for Telangana is its improvement rate, as its category was changed from ‘least improved’ to ‘moderately improved’. The State recorded an incremental change point of +3.61 out of 10, as compared to last year’s +0.45 pointing at a slow-paced improvement in the health sector. This has also led to an increase in incremental ranking from 12th to sixth.
Nonetheless, the State’s tertiary care is not only understaffed but also outnumbered to cater to the patients from four States — Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. With one chest hospital, one mental health hospital, and one cancer hospital, specialised treatments are hard to find. Even tertiary care centres in Hyderabad are ill-equipped, with an acute lack of medical infrastructure and healthcare professionals, with doctors and nurses working at almost 50 per cent of personnel capacity.
According to a report by Azim Premji University titled ‘State of Working India 2019’, Telangana government hospitals are the most understaffed in South India.