Govt nod to new 3-year BSc community health programme

The government today overruled a Parliamentary Committee recommendation for scrapping a course in community health and asked the health ministry to go ahead with the scheme aimed at creating a mid-level rural health cadre of professionals.
In its meeting, the Union Cabinet is learnt to have given its nod to the Health Ministry to start a new three-year BSc community health programme that would create a new cadre of health professionals to improve the rural medicare infrastructure in the country.
The proposal has been pending for a few years now after the ministry brought out the idea of creating a new cadre of health professionals in rural areas as doctors were unwilling to serve there.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health had strongly opposed the introduction of an undergraduate community health course.
The committee had instead recommended compulsory one-year rural posting for fresh medical graduates to meet the shortage of doctors in rural areas.
Since Parliamentary panel had recommended against such a course, the Ministry had sought the Cabinet nod to start the new course.

The government has proposed introduction of a three-and-a -half-year Bachelor of Rural Healthcare course, rechristened as BSc (Community Health), to produce Community Health Officers (CHOs) in rural India.
Rejecting the Ministry's proposal, the Parliamentary panel had instead recommended strengthening of existing health care infrastructure by increasing intake of MBBS doctors and making provision of one-year compulsory rural posting for them after internship.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had informed Parliament that the proposed course was likely to be introduced in the states willing to adopt it from academic 2013-14.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has been opposing its introduction vehemently.