Meghalaya seeks Tamil Nadu’s help to revamp health services in the state

Tamil Nadu government’s success in the health sector has impressed Meghalaya, so much so that the north-eastern state wants the southern state to help train its doctors and revamp healthcare services.

The Meghalaya government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu health department on Monday seeking the south Indian state’s help to train its doctors and overhaul the north-eastern state’s healthcare services in order to check high Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).

Senior health officials of the two states signed the MoU on Monday to share knowledge, expertise and capacity enhancement.

Also Read — Meghalaya cave reveals India’s drought records of past 1,000 yrs

“The MoU will facilitate training of doctors, especially in remote Community Health Centres (CHCs), to overcome the shortage of certified and trained medical professionals for several critical functions, including ultrasonography, obstetrics and anesthesiology. The intent behind this is to provide better antenatal and postpartum care to expecting women and to women after delivery, especially at the public health facilities in remote locations,” Meghalaya health department said in a statement.

According to the Meghalaya health department, “The MoU is targeted at upgrading all CHCs in Meghalaya as First Referral Units (FRUs) by overcoming the shortage of medical specialists in the CHCs. And for this, the Government of Tamil Nadu has agreed to give training to state doctors, which has been identified as one of the important steps to strengthen health systems in Meghalaya.”

The IMR and MMR of Meghalaya is much above the national rate, while in Tamil Nadu they are less than the national figure. According to the government data, IMR in Meghalaya in 2019 stood at 33 (per 1,000 birth) while the national rate was 30. In Tamil Nadu, IMR was 15. Similarly, during 2016-17, Meghalaya’s MMR rate was 4.5 while in Tamil Nadu, it was 3.2 (per one lakh birth).

As part of knowledge sharing and understanding Tamil Nadu’s best practices in the medical domain, the Meghalaya health officials also visited Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai. The team also visited the Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation, Egmore, where a presentation of the working and best practices of TNMSC as well as of the Medical Services Recruitment Board were highlighted.

The step has been taken as part of Meghalaya government’s initiative to check IMR and MMR, particularly in rural areas.

The National People’s Party, an ally of Bharatiya Janata Party, leads the coalition government in Meghalaya.