By Express News Service BENGALURU: There is an alarming shortage of doctors in the country with nearly 4 lakh required, said former Union Minister and Tiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. Delivering the convocation address at St Johns Medical College on Saturday, Tharoor said, “According to the World Bank, India had just 7 doctors for every 10,000 people. When we compare with the rest of the world, China has 19, USA 25 and Australia 33. India needs 4 lakh more doctors and many more institutions if we are to meet our healthcare needs.” He said, “India struggles with an absymal doctor to patient ratio with 1: 2000, double the WHO minimum standard of 1:1000.” It is worse with allopathic doctors, which is 1:11082 that is ten times what the WHO recommends, he added. In mental health, it is one doctor for every 1.25 lakh patients whereas the minimum prescribed by the Indian Psychiatric Association is 1: 10,000. “It reflects the low priority given by the government to fund mental health care, which is 0.06% of the overall healthcare budget. This is a challenge compounded by poor policy making at the top and unwillingness to invest more in our public health system and sparse infrastructure,” he added. Calling upon doctors to update their skills, Tharoor said they need to acquire IT skills so that they can use Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for better diagnosis of patients. With just 0.06% of our budget earmarked for health care, the impact on it on the poor was enormous, he explained. Tharoor said that a World Health Organisation report in 2017 that assessed 184 countries placed India and Bangladesh at sixth position when it comes to public managing their health needs through out of pocket expenses. “One economic shock is enough to send families below the poverty line,” the MP said. In a passing reference to the present political climate, Tharoor said, “21st century has presented us with unprecedented challenges: deep rooted poverty, the expanding nexus of discriminatory politics, resource crisis, a politics of hatred and division that exploit communal differences and perhaps the greatest threat of our times - the rapidly deteriorating environmental degradation - are the strongest reminders that education should be and remain our first priority. In a highly motivating speech sprinkled with humour and anecdotes, the MP urged students to be completely aware of ethical malpractices.

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