The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government has taken up an initiative to mitigate the perpetual shortage of specialist doctors in the state by launching the ‘Design and Adoption of Alternate models for Responding to address shortage of medical specialists in Meghalaya’ (ADARSH).
Notably, the provisional signing of MoU and a workshop was conducted between the state government and Public Health Foundation of India and Indian Institutes of Public Health on December 7 last year in the presence of additional chief secretary, P W Ingty, health secretary cum mission director NHM Pravin Bakshi, directors of Health Services (MI, MCH and Research), Meghalaya, Prof Sanjay Zodpey, vice president (Academics), PHFI-New Delhi and Prof Sandra Albert, director IIPH-Shillong, reports Shillong Today.
On Friday, the final signing and handing of the MoU between the state government and Public Health Foundation of India took place in the presence of Meghalaya minister of Health and Family Welfare, A L Hek and additional chief secretary, P W Ingty.
The ADARSH project is an attempt to design and scale-up alternate models for responding to the acute shortage of medical specialists in the state to train doctors in the public sector.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) model is an alternative model that will be adopted in Meghalaya.
PHFI/IIPH will work closely with the Government of India, State Governments, the CPS and other stakeholders to facilitate specialist doctors strengthening in the public sector.
The project is expected to increase the number of specialists in the state through adoption of alternate model for responding to the critical shortage of medical specialists at FRUs, CHCs, sub district hospitals and district hospitals for providing patient centred secondary health care services.