Mysuru: The district Primary Health Centres in the district lacks adequate junior health assistants both male and female who play an important role in implementing various Central and State health programs. Nearly 50 per cent of junior health assistant’s posts are vacant in the district.

There are 138 Primary Health Centres across the district including 22 Primary Health Centres in the city. The district health department is experiencing shortage of doctors, but still managing the health centres. The real problem is the lack of junior health assistants in the Primary Health Centres across the district.

Out of 222 sanctioned male junior health assistants, only 107 are working while 115 posts are vacant. There are 511 sanctioned female junior health assistant posts, where only 372 are found working. A total of 139 posts are vacant. These junior health assistants take up various Central and State health programs which are monitored by doctors. Some of the health centres do not have junior health assistants. The worst affected are health centres at Nanjangud Taluk. Apart from Junior Health Assistant, it’s the same with Group D staffs. Out of 674 sanctioned posts, just 332 are found working while 251 posts are vacant. The district also lacks adequate pharmacists. Though the sanctioned posts are 181, just 108 of them are found working. The post of staff nurse who sometimes run the health centres in the absence of doctors is also vacant. Out of 253 sanctioned posts, 108 are working and 53 posts vacant.

Apart from this, though there is no much infrastructure problem in the rural areas, it’s not the same in the city where there is constraints for space. Though every day the numbers of patients visiting the health centre are increasing, the health department is not in a position to expand the health centres due to space constraint.