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This makes the need for an overarching regulatory body critical for addressing the human resource
issues facing the country.
The need for such an overarching body must also be viewed in the context of the proposed All India
Council for Higher Education, recommended as a regulatory body for all tertiary education in India.
While it is essential that institutes imparting health education maintain a close relationship with
Universities imparting education in other disciplines, the need for developing and strengthening
education in the field of health is of paramount importance to meet the health needs of the country, and
thus needs singular focus and an overarching regulatorymechanismof its own.
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Structure and functions of the National Council for HumanResources inHealth
The National Council for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) will be an overarching body,
responsible for setting the mandate, coordinating and determining standards for health and medical
education, and providing an overall framework for the regulation of human resources in health in the
country. The proposed Council shall be constituted to amalgamate and subsume within itself the
existing medical/health oriented councils viz. the Medical Council of India, the Indian Nursing
Council, the Dental Council of India, the Rehabilitation Council of India and the Pharmacy Council of
India.
Although functioning under the broad ambit of governmental policy on medical and health education
of the Government of India, the Council will be constituted as an autonomous body, independent of
Government controls with adequate powers, including quasi-judicial, to carry out the responsibilities it
is chargedwith.
It will be the task of Council to prescribe the standards of health & medical education, and regularly
redefine the nature and content of educational programmes required to meet the national needs for
human resources in health. This overarching council will have within itself departments, each
responsible to administer one specified cadre of health professionals. These will include Medicine,
Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Rehabilitation along with Physiotherapy. In addition, it will also
have departments of Public Health along with Hospital Management and Department ofAllied Health
Sciences which would include paramedics, lab technicians, optometrists, radiologists and the like.
These Departments under the Council will act as the principal implementing agencies, responsible
execution and monitoring of the standards, so established by the Council, within their respective
streams.
It will also be the task of the Council to ensure, where necessary through its committees, effective use
of linkages in the entire health system, act as the controlling and coordinating agency that ensures
accountability in the system and to facilitate interconnectivity among and between disciplines while
creating robust career tracks to meet the needs of a diverse and growing health system in the country.
For example, when medical doctors have to teach nurses to become nurse practitioners or nurse
anaesthesiologists, the specialised committee will provide guidance inmeeting such demands.
NEWS LETTER - INDIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS - NOV.. 2010
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