THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keralam has about one doctor for every 450 people, more than twice than the World Health Organization’s benchmark of one per 1,000. And the pool is growing fast.
According to the Kerala State Medical Council’s data, of the 95,993 doctors registered since 1999, as many as 34,141 (35.6%) joined between 2021 and 2026 (till October 8). The register now stands at 1,13,023. Yearly registrations dipped from 5,981 in 2021 to 5,283 in 2023, before rising to 7,065 in 2024 and peaking at 7,383 in 2025. Yet, the supply has not translated into jobs for young graduates or affordable care for patients.
The 1:450 ratio is based on an estimate by Dr Babu K V, the central working committee member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), that only about 80,000 of the registered doctors work in the state. There is no official estimate.
“The rise is largely due to the spread of private medical colleges in the last five years, a trend that began about a decade ago,” said Dr Babu, who is also an RTI activist.
“If this continues, unemployment among doctors will be a major issue and MBBS seats will go vacant as happened in Tamil Nadu this year,” he cautioned. “The government should study the issue before allowing new medical colleges,” he opined. General Practitioners Association state president Dr Ashik Basheer said that oversupply of medical graduates had further dragged down wages.
On the data, a senior doctor who did not wish to be named, said the actual number of doctors would be lower as many new graduates are preparing for higher studies.
The deeper problem, the doctor said, was lack of planning in how health services function. “Public health facilities have too few posts and are underutilised, and 24-hour care is often not available. Patients who come in the afternoon are frequently referred to medical colleges or private hospitals,” said the doctor.
The system works well when all the human resources needed for complete care are provided, the doctor said. “However, such leadership exists in only a few places,” said the doctor. The Ernakulam General Hospital, with both material and human resources for patient care, was cited as an exception.
Acknowledging that there are unemployed doctors, the senior doctor said there is no mechanism to bring them into the mainstream. “Private hospitals run with the minimum number of doctors, while poor planning and deployment of resources in government hospitals weaken public care,” he opined.