More than half of the primary health services studied did not have a doctor and more than 41% lacked nursing staff. | Photo credit: HS MANJUNATH
A preliminary assessment of public health facilities in Karnataka called for higher budgetary allocations, filling of vacancies and expansion of infrastructure in underserved areas.
The report, prepared by the Health for All Forum – Karnataka using data obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005, assesses the status of health sub-centres (HSCs), primary health centers (PHCs), community health centers (CHCs) and general hospitals in selected districts.
Key recommendations
The report urges the state government to increase health spending to 10% of the total budget, strengthen primary health care and approve new facilities based on Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) norms and updated population estimates.
It recommended a nationwide recruitment drive to permanently fill all sanctioned posts and reduce reliance on contractual appointments.
The recommendations are set in the context of the Karnataka State Integrated Health Policy, which envisaged higher public spending and equitable access to quality health care.
Growing burden of disease
Pointing to an increase in both communicable and non-communicable diseases in recent years, the assessment says that in Yadgir district, the number of hypertension cases treated in public facilities more than doubled between 2021-22 and 2024-25. The number of diabetes cases increased by more than 50% during the same period.
Citing data from the National Family Health Survey (2019-20), the report said 14.8% of women and 17.2% of men in Karnataka had mildly elevated blood pressure, higher than the national average.
Gaps in infrastructure
Based on IPHS norms, the assessment identified infrastructure gaps across districts.
For example, only 53.4% of the investigated sub-centres operated in their own buildings, the rest operated from rented or other premises. Deficiencies were also noted in primary and over-the-counter products.
Vacancies and increasing workload
Vacancies have been reported across levels. In the 12 general hospitals surveyed, 45.6% of posts were vacant in 2024-25. In 12 CHCs, 42.6% of the posts were vacant. In 49 primary health care institutions, 30.4% of the sanctioned posts remained vacant.
More than half of the primary health services studied did not have a doctor and more than 41% lacked nursing staff. At the sub-centre level, 5.5% of centers had no staff.
Budget trends
The report said that the highest allocation for health between 2013–14 and 2023–24 was 5.78% of the total state budget in 2021–22, which is less than the level mentioned in the Karnataka State Integrated Health Policy.
She also noted that a growing share of the health budget is spent on government-subsidized insurance programs, which limits the scope for expanding public infrastructure.
Published – 28 Feb 2026 21:12 IST
