40% of districts do not have nursing colleges, Health Ministry data show

Source: The post is based on the article “40% of districts do not have nursing colleges, Health Ministry data show”  published in The Hindu on 20th July 2023

What is the News?

Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved 157 new nursing colleges for 24 states and 3 union territories. 

What is the present status of Nursing services in India?

Nursing services form the backbone of any medical establishment. India currently has close to 35 lakh nurses, but its nurse-to-population ratio is only 2.06:1000 against a global benchmark of 3:1000.

There has been a 36% growth in the number of institutions offering undergraduate nursing education since 2014-15 resulting in a 40% growth in nursing seats. But there is a regional skew within these statistics. For instance:

– About 64% of the nursing workforce is currently trained in just eight States.

– 42% of nursing institutions are concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana while 17% are in the western States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. 

– Only 2% of nursing colleges are in the northeastern States. 

– There are no nursing colleges in 40 percent of districts across India.

– The growth of nursing colleges also lags far behind the 81% growth rate of medical colleges with the number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats surging at 110% and 114%, respectively, since 2014-15.

What does the WHO say on the global nursery workforce?

According to the WHO, approximately 27 million men and women make up the global nursing and midwifery workforce, accounting for nearly 50% of the global health workforce.

There is a global shortage of health workers, in particular nurses and midwives, who represent more than 50% of the current shortage in health workers. 

The largest shortages of nurses and midwives are in Southeast Asia and Africa.

What is the scheme launched by the Government of India to address shortage of nurses?

Government has approved 157 new nursing colleges for 24 states and 3 union territories.

The nursing colleges will be set up in co-location with the existing medical colleges in India. 

Funding: The financial contribution of the central government for the project will be Rs 1570 crore.

– The central government will provide Rs 10 crore for setting up these colleges and the state governments can invest in the remaining amount depending upon the project report to be prepared for each college.

Significance: The new colleges will add about 15,700 nursing graduates every year.