How can the numbers of doctors required to satisfy the health-care needs of a population be defined?

Abstract

In theory it should be possible to define the health needs of a population and specify the medical requirements to meet them, by looking at age structure, prevalence of illness, deficiencies in prevention, occupational hazards and other factors. Attempts have been made along these lines, notably by Popov in the USSR, but at best they can only be first approximations. The approach is mainly applicable to newly created towns and communities; for most practical purposes there are certain formidable difficulties about attempting absolute assessments of this kind, and we fall back on relative indices or proxy measures of need. I wish to concentrate mainly on two major problems.