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Health in West Bengal
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Healthcare in West Bengal features a universal health care system run by the state
government. The Constitution of India charges every state with "raising of the level
of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public
health as among its primary duties". Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the
Government of West Bengal is responsible for healthcare administration in the state.
The vision and mission of West Bengal Health System, as set by the present Government
is :
- Affordable, accessible, sustainable, high quality essential health care for all
in 5 years.
- Special focus on the poor, mother child and elderly, and those living in underserved
areas.
- Emphasis on the development in hospitals and health care facilities.
- Emphasis on the development and maintenance of standards of service in hospitals
and health care facilities.
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West Bengal Healthcare infrastructure
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The Health and Family Welfare (H & FW) Department is organized into a number of
Directorates whose work is monitored and coordinated by the H & FW Department at
the Secretariat. The Department functions under the overall guidance of the Chief
Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee, who is also holding the charge of this Department.
This Department is headed by the Health Secretary who oversees the working of various
Directorates and develops various policies which gets implemented after the approval
of the Chief Minister and the Minister-in-charge.
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The State Health Administration has two arms, the Secretariat and the Directorate
of Health Services. The Secretariat is headed by the Additional Chief Secretary/
Principal Secretary who is a senior officer of the Indian Administrative Service
assisted by Special, Joint, Deputy and Assistant Secretaries. The Director of Health
Services and ex-officio Secretary heads the Directorate and is the Chief Technical
Advisor to the State Government on all matters related to medical and public health.
He is assisted by a number of Additional, Joint, Deputy and Assistant Directors.
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The Health Care System has primary health care network, a secondary care system
comprising of district and sub-divisional hospitals and tertiary hospitals providing
specialty and super specialty care. Each of the eighteen districts is headed by
a Chief Medical Officer of Health (C.M.O.H.), assisted by Deputy and Assistant C.M.O.H.s,
whose responsibility is to manage the primary health care sector and ensure the
effective implementation of the various medical, health and family welfare programmes.
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The secondary level hospitals are headed by medically trained superintendents who
report to the C.M.O.H. and are accountable to a hospital management committee. At
the block level, the Block Medical Officer is responsible for providing services
and for monitoring and supervising the primary health centres and health programme
implementation.
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The medical manpower in the State Health System is provided by the State Health
Service and in the teaching institutions by the Medical Education Service.The training
activities are mainly organised at the Institute of Health & Family Welfare, Bidhannagar,
Kolkata, and also at various training schools.
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Thus, it is seen that the West Bengal health care infrastructure is divided into
three tiers — the primary health care network, a secondary care system comprising
district and sub-divisional hospitals and tertiary hospitals providing specialty
and super specialty care. A Chief Medical Officer of Health (C.M.O.H.) heads each
of the eighteen districts.The responsibility of CMOH is to manage the primary health
care sector and ensure the effective implementation of the various medical, health
and family welfare programmes.
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The secondary level hospitals (sub-divisional and district hospitals) are headed
by superintendents who report to the C.M.O.H. and are accountable to a hospital
management committee. At the block level, the Block Medical Officer of Health (BMOH)
is responsible for providing services and for monitoring and supervising the primary
health centres and health programme implementation.
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West Bengal Health Service provides the health care professionals for the state-wide
infrastructure, while Medical Education Service employs teachers at the training
institutions.
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The number and beds sanctioned in different types of healthcare setup, as published
by the government of West Bengal, are in the following table. In this table, hospitals
under other departments of state government include government undertaking organisations,
and rural hospitals include those ones which were upgraded from block primary health
centre.
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Type of institution
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Number
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Number of beds sanctioned
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Hospitals/health centers under department of Health and Family Welfare
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Medical College Hospital
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12
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12,641
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District hospital
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15
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8,204
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Subdivisional hospital
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45
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9,901
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State general hospital
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33
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4,899
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Other hospital
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33
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6,504
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Rural hospital
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269
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8,820
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Block Primary health centre
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79
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1,086
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Primary health centre
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909
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6,592
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Subcentre
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10,356
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0
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Hospitals under other departments of state government
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72
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6,212
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Hospitals under local body
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31
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1,080
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Hospitals under government of India
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58
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7,216
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Hospitals under NGO/private
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2,013
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34,281
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Total
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13,925
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1,07,346
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West Bengal Healthcare indices
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Following table illustrates some health care indicators of the state, compared to
the national indicator, and comparison with some major states that fared better
than West Bengal (states with population 20 millions or more as of 2011 national
census were considered as major states for this table). These data are based on
Sample Registration System of Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner,
India.
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Indicator (with year)
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West Bengal
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India
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Rank in India
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Major states better than West Bengal
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Birth rate, 2010
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16.8
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22.1
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4
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Kerala (14.8), Tamil Nadu (15.9), Punjab(16.6)
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Death rate, 2010
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6.0
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7.2
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1
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none
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Infant mortality rate, 2010
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31
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47
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4
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Kerala (13), Tamil Nadu (24), Maharashtra (28)
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Total fertility rate, 2009
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1.9
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2.6
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2
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Tamil Nadu (1.7), Kerala (1.7)
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Neonatal mortality rate, 2009
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25
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34
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4
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Kerala (7), Tamil Nadu (18), Maharashtra (24)
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Under 5 mortality rate, 2009
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40
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64
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4
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Kerala (14), Tamil Nadu (33), Maharashtra (36)
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Maternal mortality ratio, 2007–2009
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145
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212
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5
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Kerala (81), Tamil Nadu (97), Maharashtra (104), Andhra Pradesh (134)
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Health Statistics of West Bengal
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