NEW DELHI: The Central government has proposed a multidisciplinary dedicated health force called Public Health Management Cadre (PHMC) in all the states as one of the steps toward achieving ‘health for all’. As the country faces an acute shortage of healthcare workforce, especially in remote areas, the Centre has also asked the states to map the existing vacant posts and to fill them up in a time-bound manner, preferably over the next six months to one year.
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, who launched the guidelines on the implementation of the PHMC on Saturday, asked the states to “formulate an action plan to identify cadre strength and fill up all vacancies, preferably over the next six months to one year.”
Listing state-wise implementation plans for filling up vacant posts in public health institutions, like primary healthcare and community healthcare, the guidelines said the states should map existing public health personnel and specialists at various levels in the present health care and identify positions at multiple facilities.
It also said that a road map needs to be prepared to impart public health training to the in-service candidates. The guidelines also specify recruiting required doctors per the sanctioned positions by establishing a recruitment board/State Public Service Commission. It stated that the health management cadre should be a mix of public health professionals and other postgraduates such as MBA (HR), MBA (Procurement/ Supply Chain), and MBA (Finance).
The need for a separate cadre was felt in the National Health Policy 2017, which took cognizance of the fact that a multidisciplinary workforce is required for managing various programs under the National Health Mission, and proposed a separate cadre for all states and union territories.
It was also hoped that the cadre would help in augmenting the capacity and capability of the public health system to estimate disease burden, apart from strengthening public health surveillance for early detection and responding to various outbreaks.
W.H.O. SUGGESTS
1.8 million doctors, nurses and midwives needed in the country
Threshold 44.5 professional health workers per 10,000 population