Two-day health strategy retreat concludes in Manesar

MANESAR - Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, ministry officials and experts have made several recommendations aimed at improving health care and family welfare services.

The recommendations were announced at the end of a two-day strategic retreat held in Manesar, Gurgaon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Over 45 experts in medicine, public health, health care and medical education interacted with senior ministry officials.

Among the recommendations, the 16 key ones are as follows:

Human Resource Development

1. Revise faculty and physical infrastructure norms for medical colleges in consultation with MCI, with particular reference to innovative use of faculty, increase in retirement age of faculty, IT based methods of teaching and low cost technology options for hospital and college construction. In particular, the 250 identified backward districts should be considered for establishment of medical colleges attached to the district hospitals.

2. Make government service in poorly served areas mandatory for graduates of government medical colleges who have received a subsidized education.

3. Involve the private health care sector in post graduate and specialist training, including nursing and para-medical training, while recognizing that public sector investment needs to be raised.

Regulatory Functions

1. Prepare a long-term strategy for the development of the Indian pharma industry with a focus on ensuring quality and affordable health care.

2. Draw up a list of drugs and devices, currently unaffordable, required for public health programmes, and work with industry to produce these at affordable rates.

Disease Control

1. Set up a public health cadre with focus on creating leadership at the district level for all issues relating to public health, hygiene, sanitation, and controlling the spread of infectious diseases. Suitable career paths also need to be identified for public health experts in the government system.

2. Establish the responsibility of medical colleges for community care in designated areas.

3. Identify training institutions, which need not necessarily be linked to medical colleges, for diploma and graduate level training. The need for independent schools of public health, on the lines of the six AIIMS institutions, was emphasized.

4. Urge upon State governments the economic and political importance of timely handling of infectious diseases.

Maternal and Child Health

1. Give greater focus to identified backward districts with poor health indicators and also improved facilities at MCH Centres.

2. Strengthen training arrangements to build capacities of Doctors, Nurses and ANMs and put in place a strong supportive monitoring mechanism with the Sick and Newborn Care Unit [SNCU] at the District Hospital as the Training Centre.

3. Develop standard protocols to improve quality of care and take other measures to ensure 48 hours stay at institution following delivery.

4. Evolve strategy for adolescent health and bring convergence with other programmes.

5. Involve professional organizations like FOGSI, IAP, NNF and Midwifery Associations to take up maternal and child health in campaign mode.

6. Strengthen the implementation the PNDT Act to effectively address the issue of adverse sex ratio.

7. Operationalize the Metro Blood Banks and the Plasma Fractionation Plant at the earliest and also set in place a process to lead to the framing of a National Blood Policy. (ANI)