Large no of health sub-centres in rural India do not have building: Report

A large number of sub-centres, which are the most peripheral and first point of contact between the primary health care system and the community in rural India, do not have their own building, according a government report.

These sub-centres operate either from a rented building or space provided by the local village panchayat or voluntary society building, according to the 'Health Dynamics of India (Infrastructure and Human Resources) 2022-23', an annual publication formerly known as 'Rural Health Statistics', which was released by the Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra on Monday.

The report shows India has a total of 1.69 lakh sub-centres, 31,882 primary health centres (PHCs), 6,359 community health centres (CHCs), 1,340 sub-divisional/district hospitals (SDHs), 714 district hospitals (DHs), and 362 medical colleges (MCs) serving both rural and urban areas.

While releasing the report, Chandra said that there is a need to integrate the Health Management Information System (HMIS)