Mudaliar Committee - Health Survey and Planning Committee

Background

• Formally known as: Health Survey and Planning Committee
• Appointed: June 12, 1959, by the Ministry of Health, Government of India
• Report submitted: 1961
• Chaired by: Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, then Vice-Chancellor of Madras University
• Context: It was a follow-up to the Bhore Committee (1946), which had laid the foundations for India's health services

Terms of Reference

1. Evaluate progress in medical relief and public health since the Bhore Committee Report
2. Review the health projects of the First (1951-56) and Second (1956-61) Five-Year Plans
3. Formulate recommendations for future health development (Third Five-Year Plan and beyond)

Key Findings / Observations

• The Primary Health Centre (PHC) programme bore "no resemblance to that visualized by the Bhore Committee" - a damning assessment of implementation
• Spending on health had decreased from 5.9% (1st Five-Year Plan) to 4.25% (3rd Five-Year Plan) of the total national budget
• Bed-to-population ratio was only 0.4 per 1,000 population - far below targets
• Life expectancy at birth was approximately 42 years
• India had 61 medical colleges (vs. the 43 proposed by Bhore to be built in 10 years - showing some progress in education)
• PHCs were being opened without adequate facilities, resources, and personnel
• Smallpox showed definite seasonal prevalence with epidemic proportions in the first 6 months of the year
• Wide variations in malaria situation with risk of re-emergence

Major Recommendations

Primary Health Care

• Each PHC should not serve more than 40,000 population
• Opening PHCs without adequate facilities and personnel would serve no useful purpose
• Emphasis on consolidation of advances made in the first two Five-Year Plans rather than rapid expansion

Hospital Services

• Strengthening of District Hospitals as the backbone of healthcare delivery
• Improve quality of services at all levels

Medical Education

• Modify medical education to produce "social physicians" oriented toward community health
• Increase bed-to-population ratio to 1.03 beds per 1,000 population by the end of 10 years

Traditional Medicine (AYUSH)

• Establishment of a separate Council of Ayurveda to set standards of training and ensure uniformity
• Similar councils proposed for Siddha and Unani systems of medicine
• A coordinating committee for all three systems

Disease Control

• Recommendations on eradication of smallpox (Government accepted these first)
• Addressed the cholera endemic problem, identifying endemic areas as a permanent threat

Significance and Legacy

Comparison with Bhore Committee