57% of allopathic doctors in India have no medical qualifications: WHO

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in its recent report, has revealed that more than half of Indian doctors are not medically qualified.

The report titled 'Health Workforce in India' claimed that around 31% of those who claimed to be allopathic doctors in 2001, had studied till secondary school level, whereas some 57% did not have any medical qualifications, the Hindu reported.

The WHO report also revealed that in rural India, only 18% of the allopathic doctors had a medical qualification.

The study based on the data collected from all districts during the 2001 census also showed that 60% of Ayurvedic doctors and 46% of Unani doctors had medical qualifications. Whereas, only 42% of homepathy practioners were found to be medically qualified.

The report also revealed that only 42.3% of denists in India had a medical degree.

The WHO report also found that women workforce in health sector was better educated than their male counterparts, with 67% of females having a medical qualification compared to 38% of males.

Sounding an alarm on India's already dismal doctor-patient ratio, the WHO report reduces the figure from 80 doctors/lakh population to 36 doctors/lakh population.