India has been ramping up health infrastructure rapidly, this will boost India’s stature on a global level: Mandaviya

Describing India’s achievements during the COVID-19 crisis, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said that indigenous capacity building, be it in human resources or vaccination, India has been ramping up health infrastructure rapidly and this has boosted India’s stature ona global level.

Today, countries are seeking India’s vaccines and this should make us and our countrymen proud of our efforts, said the Union Minister.

His remarks came at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a new building for ICMR School of Public Health in Chennai which he attended virtually.

Mandaviya further said that there is a need to develop the interface between public health training and communities so that trained professionals can respond to the problems of communities.

“There is a need to build a visible interface between public health training and communities so that the trained professionals can effectively deal with the problems in the communities. Interdisciplinary learning, which enables public health professionals to identify multiple determinants of health and influence them through multi-sectorial pathways, must be promoted,” he said.

He further added, “Public health learning needs to become more real-world oriented and equip the practitioner with problem-solving skills. It is imperative to increase the interface of public health education with the health system, especially with health services at various levels, to ensure that public health professionals can become effective change agents and elevate the health system toward greater efficiency and equity.

Mandaviya said that the School of Public Health would boost the public workforce in the country. ICMR has been at the forefront and this step would further strengthen their efforts in ramping up the health Infrastructure in the country.

Reiterating the crucial role played by the health professionals, Mandaviya noted, “The health workforce is the channel for delivering health interventions to populations. A critical mass of health professionals is necessary to manage the health system and is often a crucial limiting factor in the deliveryof quality health services.”

He further stated, “It is time for the country to develop a public health culture by creating a robust public health education system.”

He did not just emphasize that public health education needs to be at par with the International level but also must be able to respond to public health issues at local levels in our country.

This new building of ICMR School of Public Health will be the first step towards ICMR-NIE’s goal of training at least 150 mid-level public health professionals over the next three years. Special focus is being provided to the states with an inadequately trained workforce.