IN another instance of public-private partnership in the healthcare sector, Gujarat will soon have a Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) in Gandhinagar.
“I think it will soon become an institute of repute like the IIM. It will empower ‘Brand Gujarat’ even more,” said Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ashok Bhatt on Tuesday. The institute is slated to be operational by July 2009.
For this 140-crore project, the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Government of Gujarat will sign a MoU on Thursday. The State Government has provided 50 acres of land to the PHFI for setting up the institute and its foundation stone will be laid by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Dr K Srinath Reddy, director PHFI said, “Inclusive and accessible healthcare system must have a huge public stake in it. IIPH will conduct research and train people to meet this objective.” The PHFI, which has academic tie-ups with institutes like Harvard University and John Hopkins University. plans to set up seven IIPHs across the country.
The curriculum will include diverse streams like public health economics, bio-statistics, human rights, gender issues, environmental health and health communication. The faculty will have experts from various specialties.
“Since it is the bureaucracy that is involved in policy formation, we plan to run special courses for them to help in the decision-making process,” said
Dr Reddy. IIPH will initially offer a two-year degree course in Masters in Public Health and a one-year diploma program in public health, the intake for which will be 150 and 100 respectively.
The admissions will be merit-based.
It will also offer various short and medium term courses for over 800 candidates a year. Those completing the course are expected to be absorbed in various NGOs, civil society organisations or they may also work as consultants with the Government.