Govt plans training for senior civil servants in public health

New Delhi: The Union health ministry is developing a training curriculum for civil servants who have recently been promoted to joint secretary or higher positions so that they can help tackle public health challenges confronting India.

There is a perception within the government that most civil servants of the Indian Administrative Service are generalists, which means senior officials from ministries other than health can be poorly equipped to deal with health issues.

The health ministry now wants to train senior officials who have it from other ministries to try and plug a gap that often results in loss of critical time in finding solutions. Topics included in the curriculum reviewed by Mint include public health, epidemiology, health policy and national program, health promotion and prevention, and disaster management.

With senior officials playing a key role in the public health system, the first such structured exercise to train bureaucrats on a wide range of public health topics will help them effectively manage health programs and respond to emergencies. “We are developing a public health education curriculum for our joint secretaries. Joint secretaries are the people who are at the highest level of IAS cadre and some other cadre as well. They are the first person in the decision-making level. So, for joint secretaries and other senior officials we have been asked to create public health curriculum in consultation with the other public health training institutes,” said an official aware of the matter requesting anonymity.

“The persons who belong to IAS cadre are transferred every two-three year from one ministry to another ministry. For example, an officer working in some other ministry is now posted to the health ministry and has to deal with entirely new subjects such as medical education, tuberculosis, maternal and child health etc. These officers need heath and public health related knowledge and training. Therefore, the health ministry is thinking of developing a capsule course on public health for bureaucrats,” added the official.

Queries emailed to the health ministry spokesperson remained unanswered. The Human Resources for Health cell in the health ministry is working on a capacity building programme for officers and has already conducted two rounds of meetings.

The curriculum also includes mental health and mental health programs and responding to mental health emergencies; environmental and occupational health which issues such as air pollution, water pollution and sanitation; reproductive, maternal and child health.