India, June 11 -- Patiala

Not a single community health centre (CHC) in rural Punjab has the full complement of four mandatory medical specialists required under public health norms, exposing a critical gap in the state's rural healthcare system, according to the latest Health Dynamics of India 2023-24 report released by the Union ministry of health and family welfare on May 12.

Community health centres, which function as block-level government hospitals serving clusters of villages, are expected to provide comprehensive secondary healthcare services through the presence of a surgeon, physician, gynaecologist and paediatrician. However, the report reveals that none of Punjab's 84 functional rural CHCs currently has all four specialists ...