CM inaugurates NE health care leadership submit

The Summit is organized by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in partnership with the Government of Meghalaya with the support from the Ministry of Development of the North East Region (DoNER).

The objective of the summit is to strengthen the focus on key health issues in the north-east region, explore emergent avenues for collaboration and provide a platform for interaction between various agencies and stakeholders such as healthcare providers, policy makers, researchers, government officials, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

The leadership summit attempts to draw the attention of policy makers and other stakeholders to the healthcare system of the North East region and contribute towards bridging the North Eastern Region for Health Transformation.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma in his inaugural address congratulated the organizers for the summit the Public Health Foundation of India and the Department of Health and Family Welfare for organizing the 3^rd North East Healthcare Leadership Summit in Sikkim that highlights key issues in today’s evolving healthcare scenario pertinent to Northeastern parts of India.

He emphasized on the importance and relevance of organizing such summit as it is a platform for sharing and exchange of vast knowledge and experiences. The Chief Minister however stressed on the importance of realizing and recognizing the fact that while we talk about challenges and gaps, that we should realize the potential of the available resources and maximize its usage which is equally important for efficiency and effective delivery of health services. He encouraged the august gathering to find innovative ways of improving the existing system with the available resources. He expressed and acknowledged that this is not the solution but this approach can have a great impact in taking us forward for our vision of a Healthier Region.

“There is a need to improve the overall efficiency of service delivery in the health sector. Meghalaya allocates 7 percent to the sector which is higher than the national average,” the Chief Minister said.

He also said that this year the Government increased the budget allocation for to almost 30 percent. “We are focusing on creating maximum impact with minimum investment,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the chief minister urged all those in the health sector to deliver their services with compassion and empathy towards their patients’ suffering.

Terming the development of infrastructure and upgradation of human resource as the key element in ensuring better service delivery, the Chief Minister expressed optimisim that the government would be able to initiate work on the two medical colleges as soon as possible.

“On a regular basis we have been monitoring the implementation of the schme through video conferencing with set goals and agenda. This has ensured that administration and other line departments are constantly engaged with the government to ensure efficient delievery of services to the people,” he said.

He also told the gathering that the government was contemplating to provide basic soft skill and technical training to asha workers and nurses to ease the burden on doctors.

During the Summit, Chief Minister also handed over achievement awards and citation to outstanding individuals for their contribution to NHM, Govt. of Meghalaya.  (1) Dr. Kalpana Choudhury, Gynaecologist  for her expert service in PMSMA where pregnant mothers get specialised care on the 9^th of every month.  (2) Sportspersons, Mr. Hameshaniah Suian & Ms. Melanie Pariat, they are Goodwill Ambassador for RKSK Program. They are instrumental in promoting healthy habits and lifestyle through school and community health programs and through various media. (3) Development partners WHO & UNICEF for their continuous support and guidance, towards improving the performance of the state’s Immunization,  Maternal & Child Care etc… (4) Smt. Selmila Momin, ASHA from Nangaburi village of North Garo Hills, for her dedication and hard work to improve the health conditions and nutritional status of the children of her village. She is also the recipient of ‘POSHAN MAAH” award 2018 in New Delhi on 10^th Oct 2018 under the individual excellence category.

The summit saw  prominent speakers deliberating  on themes that are very relevant and pertinent to the North Eastern Region such as  (1) Access to Health and Challenges in the North East (2) The Impact of Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Epidemic: Lessons Learnt and Way Forward  (3) Health Care Financing, Human Resources for Health Issues and Challenges in the North East  (4) Epidemic & Disaster Preparedness in the North East (5) Leadership, Governance and Policy in Health: The North East NHM Context  (6) Cross Learnings of Best Practices and Challenges in the North East.

The summit recorded an attendance of about 200 participants. The leadership summit witnessed active participation of beaureacrates and technocrats from the respective north-east states; academicians and researchers; representatives of UNICEF, WHO, World Bank and other stakeholders during the presentation and discussion.

The summit falls under the umbrella of Project Swasth Uttar Purv, an initiative by the Public Health Foundation of India supported by the Ministry of  Development of North Eastern Region to strengthen human resource and systems capacity for strengthening Public Health in the North Eastern Region  that is committed to address the identified and felt needs of the eight states of the North-East by promoting policy and programme relevant research, by filling critical information gaps, conducting health summits and Health Conclaves, conducting impact assessments and cancer awareness programs, evaluating innovations for improving the outreach and effectiveness of health systems, ultimately developing a robust public health cadre in the North East.

By Our Reporter