THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To tackle new challenges in public health and bring in professionalism in the state health services, the state government is looking to create Public Health Cadre (PHC).
Discussions have already started with various stakeholders and the idea is believed to have got wide support. Health Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan told Express the PHC aims at strengthening disease prevention, health management and public health promotion.
“There is a general acceptance among stakeholders for the PHC,” said Sadanandan. “The present system is a combination of the PHC and administrative cadre. The intention is to form a core team of experts in public health. With primary health centres being converted into family health centres, the relevance of such a cadre becomes significant. The government favours prevention of diseases,” he said.
Sadanandan also made it clear many health programmes were related to public health and required public health expertise - be it regarding TB, malaria, dengue, immunisation programmes, screening for hypertension, diabetes and common cancers.
It should be noted the National Health Policy-2017 calls for the creation of Public Health Management Cadre in all states. Even the draft Vision 2032 document of NITI Aayog advocates such an establishment. The Kerala State Planning Board had also called for establishing PHC earlier to improve the quality of health services in the state.
A long pending demand, public health experts always called for a separate wing for handling public health or a cadre of public health specialists. They had said the creation of PHC will help in the effective management of public health crises.
“The PHC should focus and coordinate all activities and factors related to health promotion and disease prevention and should also coordinate health-related activities with other departments and agencies dealing with potable water, waste management and sanitation,” they had said.