“˜Kayakalp´- An Initiative For Award To Public Health Facilities Launched

USPA NEWS - The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Mr. Jagat Prakash Nadda releasing the “˜Swachhta Guidelines for Public Health Facilities´, in New Delhi on May 15, 2015. The Secretary Mr. BP Sharma, Additional Secretary Mr. CK Mishra and other dignitaries are also seen.

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr. JP Nadda launched “˜Kayakalp´- an initiative for awards to public health facilities, on May 15. The Health Minister also released the Swachchta Guidelines for Public Health Facilities.

Speaking on the occasion, the Health Minister said that the “˜Kayakalp´ initiative will encourage every public health facility in the country to work towards standards of excellence to help the facilities stay clean and hygienic. This does not apply only to physical cleanliness, but to develop and put in place systems and procedures for activities such as bio-waste disposal or protocols etc.

The initiative towards total “˜Swacchta´ in public health facilities is aimed towards building confidence of the users in public health facilities, provide quality service and encourage team work, he said.

The Health Minister invited various stakeholders, people, NGOs, voluntary organisations etc., to participate in this endeavor and share the responsibility for cleanliness of the health facility. The Health Minister urged the Health Secretaries to involve the public representatives, MLAs and MPs of their areas in this initiative. This initiative will provide an opportunity and incentive to strengthen inter-sectoral coordination in improving health systems at the state level, he added.

The Minister also invited suggestions to improve the guidelines released today.

The Health Minister added that the objectives of the award scheme are to promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health care facilities, to incentivize and recognize such public healthcare facilities.

Five awards will be given under this scheme: Best two district hospitals in each state (Best district hospital in small states), best two community health centres/sub district hospitals (limited to one in small states) and one primary health centre in every district.

Based on the set criterion, prize winners will receive a cash award with a citation. First rank and second rank awardees at district level hospital will get Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs. 20 lakhs respectively. While Rs. 15 lakhs and Rs. 10 lakhs are proposed for community health centres/sub district hospitals for the same criteria and winner at primary health centre will get Rs. 2 lakhs under this scheme. Certificate of Commendation plus cash award would also be given to such facilities that score over 70%, but do not make it to the list of top two/one in a particular year, which is proposed as Rs. 3 lakhs for district hospital, Rs. 1 lakh for community health centres/sub district hospitals and Rs.50, 000 for primary health centre.

The awards would be distributed based on the performance of the facility on these parameters- sanitation and hygiene, infection control, hospital upkeep, waste management, community participation assessment would be done sequentially through a three tier system ““ internal assessment followed by peer assessment and then external assessment.

The Secretary Mr. BP Sharma said the Swachch Bharat Mission provides an opportunity for targeted focus on corrective action within the public hospitals in order to meet quality standards. He said that incremental effort in improving existing level of cleanliness and hygiene should also be awarded to encourage and incentivise sustained efforts.

During the launch, Dr. MM Prabhakar, Head at Civil hospital, Ahmedabad conducted a virtual tour and demonstrated best practices of cleanliness.

Also present at the function were Mr. Vijay Goel, Member of Parliament, Mr. Arun Thapa, from SEARO, WHO, Mr. CK Mishra Additional Secretary and Mission Director (NHM) senior officers of the Health Ministry, state health secretaries and representatives from donor partners such as World Health Organization.