Healthcare upgrades in Darjeeling and Sikkim

Four blocks in Darjeeling and one in Sikkim can now look forward to better healthcare facilities.

NGOs working in the sector came together for a three-day workshop here and worked out modalities of a project providing basic healthcare in the region. The action plan, which will be implemented over the next five years, was finalised at the concluding session of the meet, yesterday. The project is expected to address eight problem areas.

“The Basic Health Care and Support Project will be implemented by West Bengal Voluntary Health Association (WBVHA) under the guidelines of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). It will commence from 2008 and will be carried out with the help of NGOs at the grassroots level in the region,” said Biswanath Basu, director of the project. “The project is aimed at improving people’s accessibility to quality healthcare through community involvement.”

The project is being funded by the Belgian government through Memisa, a donor agency based in that country. The budget in the first year (2008) for Darjeeling alone would be Rs 12 lakh. This would go up as the requirements increase, Basu said.

“Initially, the funds will be spent on capacity building and baseline surveys, as well as creating awareness in deficiency areas. Later it could cover supply of essential medicine, creation of IEC material, education and communication and even appointing staff and arranging for healthcare delivery, especially in places where workers of the Integrated Child Development Services have not reached,” the director added.

A similar project is already under way in remote areas in South 24-Paraganas, the director said. “It was started by WBVHA in 2004 and will continue till 2013. There some of the funds have been spent on service components, like boats to ferry patients where ambulances are not feasible.”

In all, 10 NGOs from Darjeeling and Sikkim took part in the workshop.

Source: The Telegraph