The Palamuru region, which includes five newly formed districts from the old Mahabubnagar district, is facing a serious shortage of healthcare facilities. This includes a lack of specialist doctors and medical staff in government hospitals.
According to the Health Dynamics of India 2022-23 report, the Palamuru region covers Mahabubnagar, Wanaparthy, Narayanpet, Gadwal, and Nagarkurnool districts. Together, these districts have 4.2 million people, but they do not have enough healthcare infrastructure or medical specialists to meet the needs of the population. The region’s population density is around 222.46 people per square kilometer, but healthcare is not evenly spread across the area. As a result, people living in rural areas struggle to access basic health services.
Currently, the entire region has only 89 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) at the mandal level, 583 sub-centers at the village level, 10 community health centers, and 5 district-level hospitals and medical colleges. Unfortunately, even these existing facilities are not equipped to handle the increasing number of patients or the rising disease burden.
Dr. Padma, the District Medical and Health Officer of Mahabubnagar, acknowledged the shortage of healthcare infrastructure and specialists but added that the situation has improved over the past decade. She explained that earlier, people had to travel to larger cities like Hyderabad or Kurnool for complex treatments. Now, the creation of new district general hospitals and five new medical colleges has improved healthcare access. The opening of medical colleges this year in Gadwal and Narayanpet has especially helped improve services in more remote areas. However, Dr. Padma pointed out that more super-specialty hospitals are still needed to meet the population’s growing healthcare demands.
The Health Dynamics of India report highlights that based on the current population, the Palamuru region should ideally have at least 210 PHCs, 840 sub-centers, and 35 community hospitals. For example, the government general hospital in Mahabubnagar often sees more than 2,000 outpatients daily. However, there are not enough doctors or specialists to manage this patient load, leading to long wait times for diagnosis and treatment.
Among the five districts, Mahabubnagar has the most healthcare centers, with 129 sub-centers, 23 PHCs, 2 community health centers, and 1 government medical college. Nagarkurnool, the largest district, has 178 sub-centers, 25 PHCs, and 3 community health centers. Meanwhile, Narayanpet has far fewer facilities, with only 87 sub-centers, 13 PHCs, and 2 community centers.
Residents of the region believe that the government needs to invest more in healthcare infrastructure and bring in more qualified doctors and specialists to address the growing healthcare needs of the population.
