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International Migration / Health

Stemming India’s Health Worker Brain Drain

Published on May 19, 2021

Details

For several decades, India has been a major exporter of healthcare workers to developed nations particularly to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Europe and other English-speaking countries. And this is part of the reason for the shortage in nurses and doctors. As per government reports, India has 1.7 nurses per 1,000 population and a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1,404 — this is well below the WHO norm of three nurses per 1,000 population and a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1,100. But, this does not convey the entire problem. The distribution of doctors and nurses is heavily skewed against some regions. Moreover, there is high concentration in some urban pockets.