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Table 4 New investment required for meeting the doctors and nurses/midwives shortages at different health worker:population ratio thresholds, by 2030

From: Achieving universal health coverage and sustainable development goals by 2030: investment estimates to increase production of health professionals in India

Parameters

Health worker density threshold^

Required new production (‘000’) per annum during 2021–2025*

Required number of seat expansion per college (total seats ‘000’)

Required number of new colleges (total seats ‘000’)

Estimated total cost of investment (in INR billion)^^

Lower bound of investment—actual stock shortages

Doctors

34.5

39

39 (26)

87 (13)

523

44.5

160

39 (26)

892 (134)

2 941

Nurses/midwives

34.5

161

21 (149) + 2(14)**

0

0

44.5

406

21 (149) + 20 (142)***

1 918 (115)

707

Upper bound of investment—active health workforce shortages

Doctors

34.5

142

39 (26)

772 (116)

2 580

44.5

263

39 (26)

1 578 (237)

4 998

Nurses/midwives

34.5

494

21 (149) + 20 (142)***

3 385 (203)

1 096

44.5

740

21 (149) + 20 (142)***

7 475 (448)

2 180

Middle bound of investment—by considering 50% of the out of workforce qualified health personnel into active health workforce^^^

Doctors

34.5

95

39 (26)

458 (69)

1 636

44.5

216

39 (26)

1 263 (189)

4 053

Nurses/midwives

34.5

357

21 (149)*** + 20 (142)

1 100 (66)

491

44.5

603

21 (149)*** + 20 (142)

5 190 (311)

1 574

  1. ^ Skilled health worker density per 10 000 population; *Required production per annum for a duration of 4 years (Total required production/4); ^^Doctors: The investment estimates includes cost of seats (INR 10 million per seat) expansion in existing (/proposed) colleges and cost of opening new institutions (INR 3 000 million per institution) and for nurses/midwives: The investment estimates includes cost of seats (INR 1.4 million per seat) expansion in existing (/proposed) colleges and cost of opening new institutions (INR 265 million per institution);**includes increasing pass-out rate in existing institution by 21 seats per institution (no cost involved) and seat expansion by 2 per institution (cost not considered for increasing 2 seat per institution);***includes increasing pass-out rate in existing institution by 21 seats per institution (no cost involved) and seat expansion by 20 per institution (INR 1.4 million per seat); ^^^Doctors: Annual shortages estimated after including 50% of medically qualified health professionals who are not part of health workforce (0.19 million doctors) to the total shortages by 2030 and in nurses/midwives, annual shortages estimated after including 50% of medically qualified health professionals who are not part of health workforce (0.55 million nurses/midwives to the total shortages by 2030