Govt-certified medical courses on NCDs in future

A comprehensive national Human Resources for Health (HRH) policy is in the pipeline for prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) aims to develop an HRH policy as part of its national healthcare plan to tackle a list of illnesses including NCDs.

With its initial focus on diabetes, the union health ministry plans to have a dedicated medical curriculum on NCDs at the undergraduate level. Introduction of a government-certified diabetes education course across the country is being considered.

“Concerted efforts towards developing the skills of existing health workers will strengthen their capacity to provide effective healthcare,” Dr Damodar Bachani, Deputy Commissioner (NCD), MoHFW, said.

“Cost-effective and optimal utilisation of available human resources is possible only through in-service training of existing health workers and developing need-based curricula for the future,” he said.

During a recent national consultation on “Optimizing the Skills of Health Workforce to Tackle NCDs in India”, experts recommended an increase in the number of skilled specialists in the health workforce, effective use of technology for reach and e-learning for building capacity of frontline workers.

Plans ahead

Proposal for AYUSH collaboration for NCD-related training 
Raise awareness via social media, especially to address juvenile diabetes 
Enhance intake capacity of the public and private medical and paramedical training institutes