The Hindu Business Line : PM launches Public Health Foundation

TRAINING PROFESSIONALS: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, with Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen at the launch of `The Public Health Foundation of India' in the Capital on Tuesday. - Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , March 28

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday launched the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), a public-private initiative in the health sector, which seeks to establish world-class public health institutes to train professionals in the field.

The PHFI plans to establish five-seven world-class and relevant Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPH) within the next five years, with the first two institutes opening by 2008. Funding for this project would total nearly Rs 500-700 crore over five to seven years.

Speaking at the launch, Dr Singh said that setting up of the Foundation presented an opportunity to develop innovative models of such partnership in social sector programmes. "Such partnership can help blend the commitment of the Government with operational efficiency of not-for-profit private groups," he said citing the examples of Dr Devi Shetty's Hospitals and Dr V. Shantha's Cancer Institute in Chennai.

He hoped that public health professionals would help transform the state of public health services as the problem has not been lack of ideas, but institutions have failed to deliver.

Dr Singh said that while it is important to strengthen existing public health institutions, there is need to revitalise the departments of social and preventive medicine in the medical colleges.

He also said that though the country is blessed with good quality human resources in the area of clinical management but "we woefully lack public health managers". Speaking on the occasion, Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen said that this is a "great moment", and added that though India had made great success in many areas in medicine, it has not yet made its mark in areas like delivery of healthcare to poor.

The Union Health Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, said that there would be substantial revamping of the medical education in the country to make it practical and social oriented. He said that there would be a National Drug Authority soon in order to impart greater professional management in the health sector.