Project 'Aarogya': Contributing Meaningfully to Community Well-being

India is the world's most populous nation and with a large complement of population residing in rural areas, and a per capita income ranking of 124th in the world.

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To this end, the Government of India and the state governments have rolled out several schemes and initiatives such as the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, and state-level schemes such as Aarogya Karnataka, Jyothi Sanjeevan, and Janani Suraksha Yojana, which aim to cover large swathes of the population.

According to the Ministry of Health, Government of India (GoI), the current doctor-population ratio in India is 1:834, which, while being better than the WHO mandated ratio of 1:1000, lags considerably behind its peer nations of South-East Asia and also of the developed nations such as those in the European Union. Also, India's doctor-population is not evenly distributed across states and rural vs urban areas.

As per the WHO Global Health Observatory, Southern states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka tend to have better ratios, often close to or better than 1:1000. Northern and central states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand often fall below the WHO threshold, with ratios ranging from 1:3000 to 1:5000 in rural areas. Urban areas have significantly better access to doctors compared to rural regions, where shortages are acute.

According to the latest data from the National Medical Commission (NMC), Karnataka has one of the best doctor-patient ratios in India, currently at 1 doctor per 457 people (1:457); however, based on state averages and rural healthcare trends, districts such as Chitradurga, a mining hub, being a semi-urban/rural district, has a doctor-patient ratio between 1:1500 and 1:3000. It is evident that the key issues that healthcare in India grapples with are gaps in accessibility, availability of infrastructure, and affordability. This necessitates that the healthcare system be vast and expansive with special emphasis on last-mile delivery of services.