Number of medical institutions decreased in 2020 due to Covid-19: Delhi Economic Survey

New Delhi: The total number of medical institutions in Delhi decreased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to the corresponding figures in the preceding year, according to the Delhi Economic Survey 2021-22. The first case of coronavirus was reported in Delhi in March 2020 and soon after a nationwide lockdown was imposed by the Centre to contain the spread of infection. Till recently, the city was reeling under the third wave of the pandemic.

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According to the survey report for the financial year 2021-22 presented in the Delhi Assembly on Friday by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, four hospitals are under construction which are expected to be completed by late 2022 or in 2023. For better Covid management and to increase the bed capacity in a short time, semi-permanent or temporary ICU hospitals will be created at seven locations, including Shalimar Bagh, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya and GTB Hospital, it said.

The report said the Delhi government is implementing a "4-tier health care infrastructure model" having mohalla clinics and polyclinics at tier 1 and tier 2 for providing primary and secondary health care services. Tabulated data for 2012-2020 was also shared in the survey report, according to which, Delhi has 88 hospitals, including all government hospitals (allopathic, ayurvedic, homeopathic and TB clinics), but excluding maternity homes and primary health centres.

The total number of health institutions in 2019 stood at 3,433 which reduced to 3,389 in 2020, the data showed. "It may be inferred from the above statement that the number of medical institutions in Delhi has decreased in 2020 due to Covid as schools were not opened, and 61 School Health Clinics closed," the report said.

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"There are a number of reasons behind the slow pace of extension of new health outlets such as non-availability of land, shortage of manpower and multiplicity of agencies among others. Moreover, all the hospitals especially major hospitals in Delhi attend heavy patient work load," it said.

According to the data, while the number of hospitals did not change from 2019 to 2020, the primary health centres increased slightly from seven in 2019 to 12 in 2020. The number of dispensaries, including allopathic, Ayush, and mobile health clinics, dipped from 1,585 to 1,573 during this period, it added.

The count of maternity homes and sub-centres stood at 224 in 2019 and 138 in 2020. Also, three hospitals -- Ambedkar Nagar Hospital, Indira Gandhi Hospital and Burari Hospital -- "were constructed and started exclusively for COVID-19 facility on 09-08-2020, 08/05/2021 and 25/07/2020 respectively. Eleven hospitals, including seven Covid hospitals are under construction or in planning stage," said the report for the financial year 2021-22.

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Four hospitals are under construction in Madipur, Sirsapur, Vikaspuri and Jwalapuri. For the Madipur project, the earlier plan of a 200-bed hospital has been revised and the bed strength has been increased to 691. For the Sirsapur project, the bed strength has been revised to 2,716 from 200 earlier.

For Vikaspuri and Jwalpuri projects, earlier plan of 200-bed hospitals each has been revised to 691 beds for both, according to the report. The report also said that important vital indicators like infant mortality rate, neo-natal mortality rate, under-five mortality rate in respect to Delhi stand at lower levels like 11, 10, and 19 in comparison to All India levels of 30, 23, and 36. Also, the total fertility rate (TFR) of Delhi is 1.5, which is among the lowest in India (All India level is 2.2), indicating the achievement of the replacement rate. Similarly, the crude death rate of 3.3 per cent in Delhi is the lowest in the country, it said.