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COMMUNITY DERMATOLOGY IN INDIA
Author(s) -
KAUR PARAMJIT,
SINGH GURMOHAN
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-4632
pISSN - 0011-9059
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-4362.1995.tb03611.x
Subject(s) - hinduism , medicine , library science , religious studies , philosophy , computer science
Thirty-five years ago, there were just a score of dermatologists in India. Today, there are around 2000 dermatologists for a population of 843 million.' This amounts to 2.2 dermatologists per million population. Furthermore, they are concentrated in the cities and large towns. The rural population, which is around 80% of the total, has no easy access to a dermatologist. Cutaneous morbidity is very high. We analyzed the records of outpatients attendances of primary health care centers and found that 25-35% were for dermatologic complaints. This means that the problem of cutaneous morbidity is large, and specialized manpower is meager. As far as our medical manpower is concerned, the doctor-to-population ratio is one medical doctor holding an M.B.B.S. degree for 2200 people.^ We have other systems of medicine that are recognized by our government at par with modern medicine. These include Greek medicine (Unani), ancient Indian medicine (Ayurveda), and homeopathy. Besides, these are graduates with integrated systems of medicine, mainly modern and ancient Indian systems. Traditional medical practitioners play a pivotal role in the health care in India. They are the first contact of sick people, are easily accessible to the community, are considered a part of it, and have an intimate knowledge of local health problems. It is one doctor for 700 population. With such a large medical manpower, why is it that we are unable to deliver good dermatologic care? We studied the knowledge of dermatology of interns and recently practicing doctors and found it was negligible. In spite of baving some share in the curriculum, dermatology remains a neglected subject because of its noninclusion in the qualifying examination. Furthermore, we conducted a study of 100 consecutive prescriptions of 10 senior practicing general practitioners for dermatologic problems which revealed that each prescription had a cocktail of an antihistaminic, an oral steroid, an antifungal, an antimicrobial, and a dcworming agent, besides a topical steroid-antifungal-antimicrobial combination. A study was conducted to train traditional healers in the national leprosy control program and an encourag-