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India Plans to Add 100,000 Allied Health Professionals in 5 Years

A post-budget webinar session focused on strategies to expand India's allied healthcare workforce, targeting the addition of 100,000 professionals over five years. The discussion highlighted rising demand in sectors like diagnostics, imaging, and physiotherapy due to demographic changes and disease burden. Key priorities include scaling up training capacity in specific disciplines and modernizing government institutes to meet national standards. The initiative also aims to address faculty shortages and increase youth awareness of career opportunities in this vital field.

Key Points: India to Scale Up Allied Health Workforce by 100,000

  • Add 100,000 AHPs in five years
  • Focus on diagnostics, physiotherapy, emergency care
  • Modernize 500+ government institutes
  • Ensure uniform education standards
2 min read

Post-Budget webinar breakout session on 'Scale-up Allied Health Professionals' discusses strategy to expand allied Healthcare Workforce

Post-budget webinar outlines strategy to expand allied healthcare education and workforce to meet growing demand and improve service quality.

"rising demand for allied health professionals driven by demographic transition, increasing burden of non-communicable diseases - Dr Vinod Kotwal"

New Delhi, March 9

As part of the Post-Budget Webinar series on the theme 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas - Fulfilling Aspirations of People', a breakout session was held on the Budget Announcement under Para 53: 'Scale-up Allied Health Professionals', Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.

The session brought together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, academic experts and state representatives to deliberate on strategies for expanding allied healthcare education and strengthening the allied health workforce in India.

The discussion focused on the Government's ambitious initiative to add 1,00,000 Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) over the next five years, aligning with the broader objective of improving the accessibility, quality and sustainability of allied healthcare services and education across the country.

The session was moderated by Dr Vinod Kotwal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, who highlighted the rising demand for allied health professionals driven by demographic transition, increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, expansion of healthcare infrastructure and rapid adoption of advanced medical technologies.

She noted that sectors such as diagnostics, imaging, physiotherapy, emergency care and anaesthesia technology are witnessing growing demand for skilled allied healthcare professionals.

Dr Kotwal also outlined priority disciplines for scaling up training capacity, including Optometry, Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Dialysis Therapy, Radiology and Imaging Technology, Radiotherapy Technology, Anaesthesia and OT Technology, Emergency Medical Technology, Occupational Therapy, Applied Psychology and Behavioural Health and Palliative Care.

She further highlighted that India has over 500 government institutes offering around 48,000 seats, while about 3,800 private institutes offer more than 3.6 lakh seats, with variations in infrastructure, laboratories, equipment and trained faculty. She further stressed the need to ensure uniform standards across all the Institutes as laid down by the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021.

The initiative aims to expand seats across diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, modernise government AHP institutions in line with NCAHP norms, strengthen laboratories and simulation facilities, address faculty shortages and increase awareness among youth about career opportunities in allied health professions.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Adding 1 lakh professionals in 5 years is ambitious. Hope the execution matches the plan. The gap between govt and private institute infrastructure is huge. Standardization is the key, otherwise degrees from some colleges won't be valued.
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Aman W
Good step, but what about the salaries? My cousin is a radiographer and the pay is not great compared to the responsibility. Expanding seats is fine, but we need to make these careers financially attractive too.
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Sarah B
The inclusion of Applied Psychology and Palliative Care is very forward-thinking. Mental health and end-of-life care are critical areas where India needs more trained professionals. Hope they get adequate focus in the curriculum.
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Vikram M
Finally, recognition for allied health professionals! Doctors can't do everything. A strong team of techs, therapists, and technicians is what makes a hospital function. This will reduce the burden on our MBBS doctors significantly.
K
Karthik V
While the plan sounds good, my respectful criticism is about the faculty shortage mentioned. Where will the trained teachers come from? You can't scale up students without first scaling up quality educators. That needs a parallel strategy.
N
Nisha Z
This is excellent news for students! More career options beyond engineering and medicine. Hope they run a

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