The Indian government loves to talk about having one doctor for every 1,000 people, calling it the 'benchmark' from the World Health Organization (WHO). But guess what? The WHO never actually said that! Until 2010, the government itself said the WHO had no official standard for this doctor-population ratio. Yet, from 2015 and still in 2024, India’s official replies began using this 1:1000 number again and again. How did this happen? When counting doctors, India looked only at registered allopathic doctors. This made the ratio seem tough to meet. To fix this, the government included AYUSH practitioners (like Ayurveda and homeopathy doctors), which lowered the ratio. But here’s a twist: for allopathic doctors, only 80% are considered 'available,' yet for AYUSH doctors, they used 100% availability. Hmm! The WHO cleared the fog by telling The Hindu, "It does not provide recommendations for health worker population ratios at country level." They said each country should decide numbers based on its own health needs and worker market. Experts like Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, a former WHO staff member, confirm it. "There has never been any norm by the WHO for the doctor-population ratio," he said. Dr. Kiran Kumbhar, a medical historian, found no WHO papers backing the 1:1000 ratio either. According to her research, this figure first came from India's Medical Council’s 2011 report 'Vision 2015,' which aimed for such a ratio by 2031. So what numbers does WHO use? They track a bigger health team: doctors, nurses, and midwives combined. This "composite" figure supports meeting 80% of health goals under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That magic number is 4.45 health workers per 1,000 people globally, much higher than just doctors alone. Researcher Siddhesh Zadey explains that WHO first suggested 2.25 health workers per 1,000 in 2006, then doubled it to 4.45 later. Many misunderstood this as a doctor-only target, but WHO meant all key health workers together. Yet, in India, this number became a political tool. "AYUSH advocates say if you count them, India meets the target," Zadey says. But the real problem is not just numbers; it’s the huge rural-urban gap in India. Looking at facts, India has only about 0.7 doctors per 1,000 people, ranking 118 out of 181 countries. The full health team—doctors, nurses, and midwives—comes to 3.06 per 1,000, still behind WHO’s 4.45 benchmark and ranked 122nd globally. So, the doctor shortage drama? It’s more complicated than numbers alone. As Dr. Kumbhar sums it up, India always had many doctors; the doctor crisis is a fresh debate born around this misunderstood 1:1000 claim. So, maybe India's healthcare puzzle isn’t missing pieces—it’s the wrong picture being shown! This story uses data from India's Parliament replies and WHO's National Health Workforce Accounts Data Portal.