New community health B.Sc course to be introduced: Azad

A new Bachelor of Science (Community Health) course with the objective of generating a cadre of health care providers in rural areas of the country, is likely to be introduced from the academic year 2013-14, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said today.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Azad said the task force constituted in this regard has made certain recommendations on cost estimates for infrastructure, human resources, equipments and other facilities required in rural health schools to the government for consideration.
Azad said the admissions as well as deployment of these graduates would be district-based in the respective states which are willing to introduce the course.

The course was earlier proposed as Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC) but it has been changed in consultation with the Medical Council of India.
The course duration is proposed to be of three years with six months of rotational internship.
Candidates eligible for the course will be those who have completed 10+2 exams with Physics, Chemistry and Biology as their subjects.

"The proposed course is likely to be introduced in the states willing to adopt it from academic 2013-14," Azad said in his reply.
A few medical bodies like the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have not welcomed the proposal, but the government said it is committed to introduce the course, with inbuilt safeguards.

At present, India is short of 8.5 lakh doctors and the patient doctor ratio is a poor 1:1000.