BHUBANESWAR: Dental surgeons in Odisha have been victims of an ineffective recruitment policy. Even as the ratio of dentist to the population in Odisha stands at 1:1 lakh against the WHO-prescribed ratio of 1:7,500, nearly 3,000 dentists await regular appointment in the State.
The State has a sanctioned strength of 437 posts at the levels of CHCs, sub-divisional hospitals and district headquarter hospitals for a population of around 4.5 crore. While 374 posts have been sanctioned at CHC level, only 12 posts have been approved at PHC level. Of the total sanctioned posts, 82 posts are lying vacant.
As the State was facing critical shortage of government dental surgeons in rural and underserved areas, the then Health minister Sanatan Bisi in 2008 had announced that dental surgeons would be recruited in PHCs and CHCs. Accordingly, the seats in SCB Dental College was increased from 20 to 50 and 400 seats were approved for the private dental colleges. Every year, 350 students pass out from the colleges, but they fail to join the mainstream public healthcare system due to lack of an effective recruitment policy.
Oral healthcare is considered as an important component in prevention of cardiovascular diseases worldwide. Sadly, it continues to be an afterthought for most individuals, including medical professionals in the State.
Odisha Dental Surgeons and Students’ Action Committee (ODSSAC) has expressed concern over the issue. Convenor of ODSSAC Dr Anshuman Patro said as per the Rural Health Statistic released in 2019, only 12 posts have been sanctioned for 1,288 PHCs and 374 posts sanctioned against the requirement of 754 posts for 374 CHCs and six urban CHCs.
“The government should immediately sanction at least one dental surgeon for each of the PHCs and required number of posts for the CHCs,” he demanded. States like Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Punjab have already started recruiting dental surgeons at PHC level.
“The ineffective policy of the government has pushed the future of hundreds of doctors into darkness, and in future this might discourage young students from taking up the noble profession,” ODSSAC members pointed out.