New Delhi, May 27 -- India's public health system, a cornerstone for millions, faces a critical shortage of essential medicines and diagnostic services, even as the country grapples with a rising burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Several states and Union territories (UTs)-including populous ones such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar, among many others-have less than 40% levels of essential medicines and diagnostic services available in government-run hospitals and health centres, said an official aware of the matter and as shown by a document reviewed byMint.

At the same time, the Centre has conveyed its unhappiness to states and UTs about consumers being unaware of a key central g...