Dimapur, July 12 (EMN): A four-member team from the National Health System & Resource Centre (NHSRC), New Delhi, and Regional Resource Centre–NE (RRC-NE) visited Nagaland from July 10 to the 12th.
The team comprised of Dr. Poonam, NHSR consultant, New Delhi; Dr. Priyanka, NHSRC consultant, New Delhi; Munitatat, NHSR consultant, New Delhi; and Sagarika Klita from RRC-NE, Guwahati.
An update from the state Health department stated that the team had called on the commissioner and secretary of Health, Y Kikheto Sema, and the principal director of Health department, Dr. Vibeituonuo M Sachu and other officials.
Interacting with the department officials, Dr. Poonam, stated that the purpose of their visit was to understand and support the state in creating public health management cadre.
She has appreciated the existing service rule of the department, where the state has divided manpower into different categories and posted in the entire state prior to their promotion.
She has further stressed on the formation of state task force for creation of public health cadre under the chairmanship of the commissioner and secretary of Health department.
It stated that Kikheto Sema has highlighted challenges confronting the state in health sector due to geographical and topographical uniqueness.
He also mentioned the difficulties in following the Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) due to many factors especially due to shortage of qualified manpower and the inability of the state to create more posts.
He also requested the government of India to consider the constraints of the region while planning policies. He reasoned that whatever is applicable in the mainland would not be practical for the hilly area.
He added that the state is working towards providing cashless healthcare through the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
Kikheto further mentioned that Nagaland is in the process of reviving communitisation by involving community and NGO for better delivery system for which he has sought support from the government.
Report stated that the team had conducted an orientation on public health management cadre with the officers of Health and Family Welfare department led by the principal director, Dr. Vibietuonuo M Sachu, and the NHM mission director, Dr. Ritu Thurr, at the IDSP Hall of the directorate of Health and Family Welfare. The team also visited health Units in Dimapur and Kohima including Naga Hospital.
