India builds more hospitals as population surges but doctors in short supply

FILE PHOTO: Mithilesh Chaudhary,21,a patient, looks on as his mother Anita Devi,30, and his grandfather Bhim Lal Chaudhary,59, wait to get an appointment outside All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), on a footpath in New Delhi, India, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Mithilesh Chaudhary, 21, coughs weakly as he struggles to his feet after spending the night outside the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

"We have been sleeping on the footpath for two nights," said his grandfather Bhim Lal, as the two waited in a line of about 100 people outside the hospital's main gate, seeking an appointment.