First health university in Odisha
The first Public Health University of the country will be set up soon on PPP mode by the Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH) at Gramadiha in Khurda district.
Odisha is all set to spearhead creation of a critical workforce, who would not only monitor the health of the population but also play a pivotal role in disease prevention and reduction of morbidity at the community level.
The MoU for the university, which is also the first in Odisha to be established with direct support of a foreign university – University of Nebraska Medical Centre, College of Public Health, USA – was signed between Health Secretary PK Mohapatra and Professor Pinaki Panigrahi of AIPH on Monday.
The institution will churn out a new specialist cadre of professionals both in medical and non-medical stream to deal with public health issues, disease surveillance and also capable of taking pre-emptive measures to prevent or delay onset of diseases in the population.
The university would come up with an initial investment of 100 crore and focus on preventive healthcare training and research. The State Government has provided 50 acres of land for the university, which will see infusion of more funds to the tune of 50 to 100 crore in the second phase. It is targeted to start functioning by 2016.
It will have speciality branches in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Systems, Environmental health, Health promotion and Health behaviour. The university will have Centres of Excellence like Health for the Elderly, Chronic Diseases Centre, Maternal and Childcare Centre and Centre for Disease Surveillance. Besides, research would form a core area of activity of the university.
As part of the agreement, translational research centres are being established at Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar and IGH Rourkela and will be expanded to other medical colleges and DHHs. The State Government has also endorsed AIPH to become the Model Rural Healthcare Research Centre to be funded by the Centre. (Source – New Indian Express)
