Availability of infrastructure and manpower for primary health centers in a district in Andhra Pradesh, India

BACKGROUND: India has a vast public health infrastructure with 23,391 primary health centers (PHCs) and 145,894 subcenters providing health services to 72.2% of the country's population living in rural areas. Although the numbers look impressive, their functional status needs to be studied in terms of physical infrastructure, manpower, equipment, drugs, and other logistical supplies that are greatly needed for ensuring quality services. This work aims to study the infrastructure facilities and manpower in a sample of PHCs in the district of Nellore in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. METHODS: Randomly selected samples of 15 PHCs have been studied using structured and pretested performance standard questionnaire. Data have been analyzed with reference to the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) of the Government of India. RESULTS: Many deficiencies were identified in infrastructure and manpower in the PHCs studied. Some of the important findings were that the deficiency of AYUSH medical officers was 86.6% and the deficiency of health workers (female) was 13.33%. Some of the important drugs such as antihypertensives, anticonvulsants, emergency drugs, drops, ointments, and solutions were available in less than 50% of the PHCs. Only 47% of the PHCs had Typhidot tests and H2S test strips, and in the labor rooms only 20% of the PHCs have a Standard Surgical Set for episiotomies in accordance with IPHS. CONCLUSION: PHCs lack the manpower and vital infrastructure that are necessary for the effective day-to-day functioning and provision of primary healthcare to the population.