Rural healthcare course to start at the earliest: Azad

Having received support from various states,the proposed Bachelor of Rural Health Care is all set to roll out soon.

Having received support from various states,the proposed Bachelor of Rural Health Care is all set to roll out soon. Speaking exclusively to The Indian Express,Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Azad said he will soon have a meeting with the officials concerned and launch the course.

I have spoken to most of the chief ministers and all have supported the need to for such a course,so that people living in rural areas can be catered to by proper health care providers. A meeting with health officials from the states will be scheduled soon so that the course can be started at the earliest, he said.

The health ministry has identified difficult areas that are not reachable and have high Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Once this three-and-a-half-year course is in place,the doctor will be no less than an MBBS. About 80 per cent of health-related problems of rural areas will be disposed of there,cutting down on burden on hospitals like AIIMS, Azad added.

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The Minister said the course has shown good results in Chhattisgarh,Assam and Bengal where it is operational.

Inclusive of six months rotating internship,the course would be institutional in character and conducted through medical schools,which would be tagged with public district hospitals in districts where there are no medical colleges as of now. Admissions would be district-based and 25-50 students per district would be enrolled every year.

Every medical school would be affiliated to an examining university which would confer the Bachelor of Rural Health Care degree. The course has been restricted to general medication,and the cases that need surgery will be referred to big hospitals.

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