Indian health ministry hires 53,500 male health workers to control and prevent infectious diseases-June 22, 2010

Indian health ministry hires 53,500 male health workers to control and prevent infectious diseases



Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 22:36 This news item was posted in Featured, health category and has 0 Comments so far.
India’s health ministry is planning to hire over 53,000 male healthworkers in an effort to control and prevent infectious diseases across the country.


The male health workers will be posted on contract basis in sub health centres in areas where he prevalence of infectious diseases like malaria, TB, leprosy, filaria and kala-azar (leishmaniasis) are high.

The ministry has already identified 235 districts across the country as high focus areas where the occurence of these contagious diseases are much more.

The government has decided to hire 53,500 male health workers to posted in a total of 53,544 sub health centres in the high focus districts, reports said.

The male health workers will be responsible for all preventive health activities water testing,chlorination, sanitation and school health besides being central to all the disease control programmes including malaria, TB, leprosy, filaria and kala-azar.

Appointment of male health workers will also help to improve maternal and child health care by enabling the ANMs to take up the additional preventive health care tasks such as control of nutritional anaemia and adolescent health care.

Male health worker could also make function sub health centres working round the clock, reports said.

Through the new scheme the government expects provide more jobs supporting contractual appointments as well as rejuvenating the multipurpose course for male health worker at all the erstwhile institutions and starting new schools in underserved districts.

The government will provide a stipend support of Rs. 500 to the students undergoing the male health worker training programme.

The course content for male health workers’ training programme will be revised to meet the present and future requirements of disease control programmes as well as maternal and child health.

A sub-committee with representatives of all disease control programmes and Health and Family Welfare training centres from selected States with due representation from high focus districts may be constituted to complete the task within two to three months.

The health ministry of India estimates the total cost of the programme of providing male health workers to the tune of Rs 385.52 crore per year.
Of this, the central government will bear lion’s share of the cost in the initial three years. The Central government would cover 85 per cent of the cost in the first year, 75 per cent in the second and 65 per cent share in the third year.

The financial implication for assisting the 56 HFW training centres (Rs 59 lakhs each) would be Rs. 33.04 crore.

The decision to hire male health workers was taken by the Mission Steering Group of National Rural Health Mission chaired by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad and attended by Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj CP Joshi and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia