Healthcare in West Bengal


Healthcare in West Bengal features a universal health care system run by the state government. The Constitution of India charges every state with "raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties". Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the Government of West Bengal is responsible for healthcare administration in the state.

Healthcare infrastructure

The health care infrastructure is divided into three tiers — the primary health-care network, a secondary care system comprising district and sub-divisional hospitals and tertiary hospitals providing specialty and super specialty care. A Chief Medical Officer of Health heads each of the eighteen districts. The responsibility of CMOH is to manage the primary health care sector and ensure the effective implementation of the various medical, health and family welfare programmes. The secondary level hospitals are headed by superintendents who report to the C.M.O.H. and are accountable to a hospital management committee. At the block level, the Block Medical Officer of Health is responsible for providing services and for monitoring and supervising the primary health centres and health programme implementation.
West Bengal Health Service provides the health care professionals for the statewide infrastructure, while Medical Education Service employs teachers at the training institutions.
The number and beds sanctioned in different types of healthcare setup, as published by the government of West Bengal, are in the following table. In this table, hospitals under other departments of state government include government undertaking organisations, and rural hospitals include those ones which were upgraded from block primary health centre.
Type of institutionnumberNumber of beds sanctioned
Hospitals/health centers under department of Health and Family Welfare
Medical College Hospital1312,641
District hospital158,204
Subdivisional hospital459,901
State general hospital334,899
Other hospital336,504
Rural hospital2698,820
Block Primary health centre791,086
Primary health centre9096,592
Subcentre10,3560
Hospitals under other departments of state government726,212
Hospitals under local body311,080
Hospitals under government of India587,126
Hospitals under NGO/private2,01334,281
Total13,9251,07,346

Healthcare indices

Following table illustrates some health care indicators of the state, compared to the national indicator, and comparison with some major states that fared better than West Bengal. These data are based on Sample Registration System of Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India.
Indicator West BengalIndiaRank in IndiaMajor states better than West Bengal
Birth rate, 201016.822.14
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab
Death rate, 20106.07.21none
Infant mortality rate, 201031474Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
Total fertility rate, 20091.92.62Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Neonatal mortality rate, 200925344Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
Under 5 mortality rate, 200940644Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
Maternal mortality ratio, 2007–20091452125Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh

Healthcare issues