1.
Indian J Public Health
;
2006 Jul-Sep; 50(3): 160-72
Article
in English
| IMSEAR
| ID: sea-109264
ABSTRACT
Five blocks of Nasik district in Maharashtra were surveyed in 1999-2000 for distribution and academic degrees of doctors of all kinds. The five blocks have 84 % villages without any health care provider (read doctor) no matter qualified or quack. All the 555 doctors including Govt. doctors are concentrated in 16 % of villages, mainly in small townships and market centers. Physical access to any doctor is thus tedious. Often it requires travelling and hidden costs like loss of wages for the accompanying person. It also involves a hidden cost of deferred treatment. To ensure access to rational medical care at affordable cost a major overhaul of the existing health services is necessary.