Down the memory lane

Nirman Bhavan that houses the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi was one of the places that I had visited on many occassions during my 5 -year long tenure as Secretary & Principal secretary,Dept.of Health & Welfare,Govt. of Kerala. Almost everyone in the Ministry was known to me. Hence, it became so easy for me to get assimilated to the system of the Ministry.

I was given charge of National Blindness Control Programme, Immunization Programme, National Cancer Control Programme, implementation of National Rural Health Mission in North East and so on. For sometime, I looked after Medical,Dental,Pharmacy and Nursing education in the country and had the privillege of dealing with national institutions like All India Institute of Medical Science,JIPMER Pondicherry,Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education ,Chandigargh. This was the period, when I had contributed a lot for the formulation of policies, implementation of national programmes, enabled all india level medical instituions to grow,focussed on nurturing the North Eastern health sector and so on.

The experience that I had gathered as Health Secretary,Govt of Kerala became quite handy. Few of my suggestions as Kerala Health Secretaryto the Ministtry of Health materialised in the form of national level programmes or included in the national scheme of things. To name a few, my suggestion that the best teaching medical instituion in each state should be assisted to such an extent that it becomes an AIIMS like instituion in view of the emerging life style diseases, re-emerging communicable diseases and the epidemiological changes the country was passing through. I had argued that a country of more than a billion population should not have only on AIIMS; but each state should have that benefit. Of course, for that purpose,Govt. of India should pump in resources. I had also suggested that the existing instituions should be upgraded. It is being implemented through a national level scheme called AIIMS like Instituions; but without bearing in mind my suggestion in its entirity. I had also argued that a hospital with efficient doctors, para medics, infrastructue and the latest equipment minus essential drugs means a big "ZERO" for a common man seeking treatment for prolonged ailments. It did not get into the mind of the policy makers of the Ministry during my tenure as Health Secretary,Kerala. It so happened that the Union Health Secretary Mr.P.C Hota listned to me patiently when I met him after I joined the Ministry as Joint Secretary and felt convinced of the need to include assistance for purchase of drugs as oner of the components of National Rural Healt Mission. I also gave a copy each of the Essential Drug List for Primary,Secondary and tertiary level hospitals. These lists of essential drugs essentially to be stacked and used right through the year was prepared by committee of experts drawn from Kerala. In fact,Mr.P.C Hota got this list revised keeping the national health scenario in mind and made it mandatory for the states implementing National Rural Health Mission.

My contribution to the implementation of National Rural Health Mission in North East is dealt with in a separate chapter. I had to run the programmes such as the National Cancer Control Programme(NCCP),National Blindness Control Programme, Extended Immunization Programme,and Nursing Sector etc., These national programmes had been formulated with minor additions and deletions to the programmes being implemented for years. They hardly covered the entire cavass and mostly touched the tip of the iceberg. I have never believed in the excuse of the the planners that the Planning Commission would not provide adequate funds and as asuch the Divisions should at the most ask for token enhancement of the allocation made during the previous plan. They would make conservative demands and get less than the projection mainly because of inadequate and inappropriate data on disease prevailance, demand and supply. Mostly, theya are armed with obsolete data collected form secondary sources. They had always spread the butter thin and never attempted to project the demand of the sector. Here lies the role of tht Joint Secretary, who heads the Programme Division .They never question the wisdom of the professionals,who assist them in informulating and implementing programmes. But with the assistance of the professionals under them and the experts drawn from , the field they could project the demand of the sector and I am the Planning Commission would appreciate and allocate more funds if not to the required extent to begin with.

This was what I did to formulate the " Strategy for Cancer Control Programme for the XIth Five Year Plan Period". In October,2005,two years ahead of the XIth Plan, a National Task for Cancer Control Strategy" was constituted with experts drawn from various segments of cancer care in the country. We also included experts from WHO and the International Agency for Research in Cancer, Lyon, France.The experts were split into 6 sub groups to assess the demand and formulate strategy unmindful of the allocation required. The mandate given to them was to work out the demand sector wise and formulate a strategy and leave the rest to me. The Sub Groups on Cancer Prevention and Control, Radiation Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Medical Oncology, Palliative Care and Rehabilitation and Cancer Research came out with a strategy document at an estimeted cost of Rs.2900 crores against which the Planning Commission allotted Rs.2400 crores.

The same way, I proded the Vision 2020 Secretariate, a non govenmental agency to formulate a Strategy for the National Blindness Control Programme. The experts drawn from various eye care instituions across the country split themselves into various groups and formulated aa strategy for the Xi th Five Year Plan. The Planning Commission allocated an amount of RS,1550 crores for the NAtional Blindness Control Programme for the XI th Five Year Plan Period.

Equally worth mentioning was thhe Strategy drawn under my leadership by experts drawn from various parts of the country. The strategy,which reflected the requirement of the sector was so convincing that the Planning Commission allotted Rs.2900 crores for new schemes over and above the the funds for the ongoing schemes.

PHOTOS OF THE WORKING GROUPS

After 18 years of break, we resumed the National Awards for Nurses on the Nurses' day in May,2007. The Hon'ble President of India gave away the awards at a solemn function held at Rashtrapathy Bhavan on 12 May,2007.

During the Plan discussion with the Planning Commission, I vociferously argued for allocation of resources for Human Resource Development in the health sector. We sought for assistance for the Govt. Medical Colleges offering Post Graduate Courses in the country. The idea was to strengthen those Govt. Medical Colleges that offered PG courses so that required number of specialist and Super Specialist doctors are produced for the benefit of the country. The Planning Commission was convinced of the need to strengthen Medical,Paramedical and Pharmacy instituions so that adequate man power to meet the ever increasing demand . For the first time, the Planning Commission agreed for opening head titled " Human Resource for Health" and provided Rs.Rs.1500 crores for Upgradation of State Government Medical Colleges,Rs.2900 crores for for Upgradation/strengthening of Nursing Services, Rs.100 crores for Strengthening /Upgradation of Pharmacy Schools/Colleges and Rs.1000 crores for Strengthening/Creation of Paramedical Instituions.

PHOTOS OF CONVOCATION JSS COLLEGE &SIKKIM MANIPAL MEDICAL COLLEGE