Health Department, Govt. of Bihar has organized a conclave named “Swasth Bihar, Samriddha Bihar in Patna on 29th of August, to share the success stories through the Journey of Strengthening Health Systems in Bihar. Senior Leadership from the Government, NITI Aayog, Development Partners working in the state and experts of the Public Health sector along with Senior Health officials of the department, GoB participated in the event. The focus of this event was to share information about the progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child health and infectious diseases control like Kala-azar & TB, to reflect on the gaps and to invite inputs to further improve health outcomes and strengthen the Public Health system.
The event was inaugurated by Shri Mangal Pandey, Health Minister, GOB, and other distinguished members included Prof. Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, Mr. Alok Kumar, Health Advisor, NITI Aayog, Dr. Subhash Sharma, Development Commissioner (GoB), Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary, Health, Mr. Manoj Kumar, Executive Director, State Health Society, Bihar and delegates from development partners such as Mr. Hari Menon, Country Director, India Country Office, Gates Foundations and experts such as Dr. Gary Darmstadt, Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health and Professor of Neonatal and Development Pediatrics, Department of Pediatric, University of Stanford, USA .
The event provided a common platform for the Govt as well as for the development partners to share and reflect on progress in health outcomes and health systems. Mr. Sanjay Kumar shared the journey of Bihar in improving health outcomes. He noted that while Bihar has 34% people living below poverty line as compared to 22% of the national average, the current spend on social services has increased from Rs. 493 in 2004-05 to Rs. 4850 in 2017-18 and mobile penetration from 64% in 2004-05 to 94 % in 2018.
On health indicators, Bihar is close to the national average. It has brought down maternal mortality from 371 per lakh life-birth in 2001-03 to 165 per lakh life-birth in 2016 a rate of decline which is as fast as the national decline from 301 in 2001-03 to 130 in 2018. He noted that the most impressive outcome has been the decline in neonatal mortality from 32 per thousand life-birth in 2006 to 25 per thousand life-birth in 2016 versus the national decline from 37 in 2006 to 24 in 2016. The number of districts that are Kala-azar endemic have come down significantly from 31 to 5. Bihar also has seen dramatic increase in immunization coverage from 20 % in 2005 to 85% at present. He went on to state that the challenge of human resource development persisted with barely 2% of doctors opting to work in rural systems and laid emphasis on strengthening both nursing cadre and paramedics.
Shri Mangal Pandey, Health Minister, GoB highlighted the fact that this has been the first-ever state consultation held in the presence of policy makers and experts from the center and state, went on to state that “Bihar has traveled a long way since 2005. He lauded the efforts of the health officials and the government which have led to development of faith among the community and the footfall of patients have increased tremendously from 39 in 2005 to 10500 at present across the health Centers.”
Acknowledging the role that Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation and CARE India and all its partners had played in providing technical support to the project since 2011, the more recent support to digitalization and modernization of health systems, he went on to emphasize that, “All of these will prove to be the game-changers in many ways.”
Dr. Vinod Kumar Paul, pleased with the progress that the Bihar health system had made, it was time to consolidate the learning, so the unfinished business gets addressed in a concerted way.
Mr. Hari Menon, Country Head, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation while renewing support and commitment to the Bihar Government emphasized that their role as technical support partner had grown from a modest goal of implementing a few pilots to scaling up the intervention across the state.
Other notable speakers were Dr. Subhash Sharma, Development Commissioner and Dr. Gary Darmstadt from University of Stanford, USA. While the former urged the need for increasing medical colleges and facilities, the latter affirmed their continued support to the Bihar government
At this conclave, policy makers and experts reflected on the journey undertaken so far and deliberated on new ideas to not only reach health linked Sustainable Development Goals but also to have a robust health system that can comprehensively address health challenges of the future.
A marketplace showcasing several initiatives like - Kala-azar, special training of nurses to provide critical care (AMANAT), mobilization and education of community, digital technology for health, Outreach activities and Jeevika, through Posters, Photographs, Audio-visuals. Demonstration kiosks were put up at the event for the delegates to acquaint them with the innovative and successful practices which are being implemented in Bihar.
This story has been edited by DevNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
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