Rural health vacuum takes toll on Kolkata

KOLKATA: Thirty-two-yearold Manju Mondal delivered on a floor landing in Calcutta Medical College on Saturday. Such cases indicate an increasing burden on city hospitals.
Health intelligence reports suggests that this phenomenon will only increase as none of the districts have adequate health subcentres.
The inadequacy forces increased dependence on tertiary health care providers like state medical colleges and creates unnecessary pressure on specialised hospitals.
The audit on the health sub-centres also revealed that such centres are grossly deficient in providing basic health care. The main reason is of course the growth in population which has destabilised the ratio between number of health sub-centres and patients.
The ratio is worse in the hilly and remote areas. The national norm states that there has to be one subcentre for every 5,000 people in the plains and one for every 3,000 in hills and in regions dominated by tribals and backward population.
The worst case is North 24-Parganas with one subcentre for every 14,834 people. Next is Nadia with one sub-centre per 12,476 people. The situation in Darjeeling is alarming with 10,036 people having one center. The report also shows that the total number of beds in the state decreased steadily compared to the population rise.
"There is tremendous pressure on top state hospitals. Patients are treated on trolleys and kept in front of toilets. There is no basic hygiene." said Amarendra Biswas, deputy superintendent of Calcutta Medical College. "People who could be treated in the districts flock the city hospital and we cannot refuse any," director medical education Chittaranjan Maiti said.