India needs an estimated 45,000 additional public health professionals to effectively strengthen its healthcare system and meet the growing demand for disease prevention, health promotion, and emergency preparedness, according to experts from the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH).
The finding highlights a significant shortage in the country’s public health workforce, despite increasing healthcare challenges ranging from infectious disease outbreaks to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases and the health impacts of climate change. Experts said the gap is affecting the ability of health systems to deliver essential public health services, particularly in underserved and rural regions.
According to PHFI-IIPH, India’s public health infrastructure requires a much larger pool of trained professionals, including epidemiologists, health policy experts, biostatisticians, environmental health specialists, health economists, programme managers, and public health researchers. These professionals play a crucial role in disease surveillance, outbreak response, health planning, policy formulation, and improving population health outcomes.
The experts stressed that while India has made considerable progress in expanding healthcare services, the focus must now shift towards building a robust preventive healthcare workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of a well-trained public health cadre capable of responding rapidly to health emergencies while ensuring continuity of essential health services.
They also called for greater investment in public health education and training, expansion of academic institutions offering public health programmes, and the creation of dedicated public health positions across central and state health departments. Strengthening career pathways and improving employment opportunities, they noted, would encourage more graduates to enter the field.
PHFI-IIPH further emphasized that investing in human resources for public health is critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage and supporting India’s long-term healthcare goals. A stronger public health workforce would not only improve disease prevention and health promotion but also enhance preparedness for future pandemics and other public health emergencies.
Experts believe that bridging the shortfall of approximately 45,000 public health professionals will be essential for building a resilient, equitable, and sustainable healthcare system capable of addressing the country’s evolving health needs.
