Posted 05 Dec 2009 by admin
Community Action under NRHM in Orissa: The Status and Way Forward
On December 15th,2009, a workshop regarding “Community Action under NRHM in Orissa: The Status and Way Forward” was conducted jointly by Human Development Foundation (HDF) and Oxfam India at Hotel Swosti Premium, Bhubaneswar . Among the participants was the Honorable Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Orissa, Shri Prasanna Acharya. Mr. Sudarshan Das, Secretary, HDF, gave the welcome speech and invited Mr.D K Roy, E.D., HDF to preside over the meeting. Along with him, Prof. S. Pepin, XIMB, Mr. A.K. Satpathy, Regional Director of H&FW, Government of India, and Mr. Avinash Kumar, Lead Specialist, Oxfam India, presided over the meeting. Mr. Sanjib Kumar Behera, Program Officer, Oxfam India welcomed the dignitaries and participants.Mr. Sudarshan Das stated the objectives of the workshop: to understand the status of community monitoring of government health services, an integral part of the National Rural Health Mission, and to create a joint strategy for increasing community participation in planning, implementation and monitoring of NRHM programs. The workshop was attended by representatives from NGOs, CSOs, academic institutions, government, village-level PRIs, and ASHAs.
Mr. Avinash Kumar from Oxfam India presented a paper on “Role of Civil Society on Right to Health” in which he stated that unless it is ensured that people get the right to life and health care, then they are not receiving their constitutional rights. He went on to say that the role of civil society is to work towards making government accountable on delivery of quality health care services, particularly from the point of view of the most marginalised.
Dr. Prasanna Acharya, Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family welfare focused on two aspects. Firstly, people should be aware of their rights. Secondly, their participation in enforcing these rights is their responsibility. He stated that the NRHM has the potential to be the best health program ever initiated by the government. However, the services are poorly utilized due to limited awareness about their operation. He praised the rural ASHA workers who are performing particularly well in Orissa, but recognized the need to further strengthen their capacity. He called for the participation of civil society to make NRHM programs more successful.
The final vote of thanks was given by Mr. Sudarshan Das.
