The 11th Conference of Central Council of Health & Family Welfare (CCH & FW) was chaired by the Union Health & family Welfare Minister.

The meeting was attended by Union Ministers for States Health and Family Welfare Shri Dinesh Trivedi and Shri S. Gandhiselvan, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh Shri Shivraj Patil, Lt. Governor, Andman Nicobar Islands, Lt. General (Retd.) Bhopinder Singh, Member (Health) Planning Commission Smt. Sayeda Hameed and 25 Health Ministers from State Governments.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad called upon the State Health Ministers to strengthen the Public Health System for the prevention and control of infectious diseases like malaria, dengue, TB, H1N1 etc by improving laboratory practices, surveillance, outreach investigation and effective case management. He also advocated for the creation of a specialized public health cadre including a Directorate of Public Health in states to focus on prevention control of infectious diseases. The States were also requested to increase their Health Budgets to meet the growing demands of the health sector.

Union Minister underlined the need for placing trained and motivated personnel to enhance the capacity of the health system to manage both communicable as well as non communicable diseases. He requested the Health Ministers to ensure that trained personnel are not frequently transferred so that their knowledge and skills are optimally utilized.

The Union Minister informed the State Health Ministers that the Clinical Establishment Bill has been passed by the both Houses of Parliament. He urged the Health Ministers to adopt this Act on its notification and utilize its provisions, inter alia, to build up a comprehensive database of the health infrastructure in the country.

The Union Minister also drew the attention of the Health Ministers to the most critical subject of population stabilization in the country. He requested the State Health Ministers to discuss this issue in State Legislatures, Zilla Parishads and Panchayats to build up a broad-based political consensus for population stabilization. He also urged that states should concentrate on implementing the laws governing the age of marriage and encourage the young couples to delay their first child and maintain spacing between first and second child.

Expressing concern at the menace of spurious drugs and adulteration of food the Union Minister called upon the State Health Ministers to enforce the provisions of the PFA Act strictly. He emphasized the need for strengthening the enforcement machinery by filling up the vacant posts of food and drug inspectors and by upgrading the laboratories with proper equipment and trained personnel.

The Union Minister emphasized the need for expanding the outreach of Medical Education in the unserved and underserved areas of the country. He highlighted the various path-breaking initiatives undertaken in the recent past to rationalize/ liberalize the norms for setting up of the Medical Colleges. He particularly urged the State Government to raise the retirement age of the faculty to 65 years as has been amended under the MCI regulations. He said that this lone step would enable state governments to overcome the shortage of faculty to some extent. The Minister also assured the Council that Ministry would engage in discussions with the Board of Governors, Medical Council of India to explore the possibility of further liberalization in the existing norms.

In the meeting, the Central Council discussed the following major issues

1. National Commission of Human Resources in Health (NCHRH)

2. Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC)

3. Clinical Establishment Act

4. More Resources for improving health infrastructure in backward districts

5. Reproductive and Child Health

6. Polio and Measles Vaccination

7. Population Stabilization

8. Improved Supervision and Strengthening of Disease Control Programmes

9. Strengthening of HIV testing and safe and quality blood and blood products under National AIDS Control Programme