Sustained World Bank investment into NHP needed: Nagaland Health Minister

State lacks infrastructure developments including health care facilities due to the fragile law and order situation in the past

Kohima, June 16 (MExN): Nagaland Minister for Health and Family Welfare, P Paiwang Konyak on Thursday attended the 1st Northeast Knowledge Conclave for Health at Guwahati, and stressed that investments made by the World Bank through the Nagaland Health Project (NHP) should be sustained to ensure that the gains made over the years are consolidated. He said that availability of finance is a key challenge in facilitating systemic transitions. 

The two-day workshop is being held at Taj Vivanta, Guwahati from June 15 to 16, and organised by the World Bank. 
The Minister remarked that Nagaland, although being the second oldest State in the Northeast Region next to Assam, lacks infrastructure developments including health care facilities due to the fragile law and order situation in the past.

However, Konyak stated that there is now peace in Nagaland for nearly a decade.  He urged the World Bank and development partners to continue to assist Nagaland, particularly in the health sector, especially in infrastructure in rural areas.

Highlighting the activities for Nagaland under the NHP, the Minister informed that it was the first state level project funded by the World Bank, implemented by the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Nagaland and the intervention started in 2015 as a pilot project in two districts, and was fully scaled up to the remaining 16 districts in 2017.

He said the first project component- Community Action for Health and Nutrition and was focused on Community Result Based Financing where health intervention by health committees aim to improve Health & Nutrition outcomes at the community level based on the Nagaland communitization concept, and after which district level Result Based Financing (RBF) intervention was added.

In total, he informed that the RBF component has been successfully implemented in 500 HCs (21 CHCs, 56 PHC, 100 SCs and 323 VHCs), including 11 district hospitals and CMO establishments.

In the last 7 years, all 500 health committees have been strengthened and revived; gender inclusion was addressed through the constitution of women co-chair in all the Health Centres while knowledge enhancement, awareness generation, sensitization on health and societal issues were efficiently strengthened, the Minister informed.  

Further, he said the RBF investments in the health committees, has in turn encouraged many communities to chip in through community contribution and participation; as many as 115 communities have contributed in cash to their own health committees and almost all have contributed in kind or physical labour, while social audit was also conducted by village councils, student bodies. These practices, he encouraged, needs to be sustained for the system to improve.

The second component on Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) is input-based financing, the Minister informed, saying that investments have been made using the World Bank guided procurement process.

He maintained that NHP investment is made in WATSAN-infrastructural development, alternate energy-solar, supply chain management, IT and sustainable biomedical waste management as per the provisions of the Biomedical Waste Management Act.

Also, to improve the efficiency of service delivery, he said many digital platforms have been created in the form of Hospital Information System (HIS), bio-medical waste management reporting system and Human Resource Management System Drug and Vaccine Distribution and Management System (DVDMS) along with other IT applications.

The project has also implemented the Drug and Vaccine Distribution and Management System (DVDMS) and constructed a state warehouse to improve supply chain management system.

He informed that civil repair and renovation works have been completed in four Nursing Schools and Para Medical Training Institute and 176 targeted health facilities while construction of the State Ware House has been completed.

Construction of the library and theatre Block at Nagaland Medical College Kohima is also under the NHP, which is in progress.

In the midst of COVID pandemic, the Minister stated that immense additional support to the department was provided by the project by supplying oxygen cylinders and concentrators across the state and the project has also constructed oxygen generation plant houses in eight district hospitals and installed oxygen pipelines at various health facilities.

He added that the NHP has demonstrated that there are many ways to promote the right economic incentives to support sustainable practices in finance by bringing together, on a voluntary basis, communities, government and banks.

Healthcare challenges in Nagaland
Meanwhile, Y Kikheto Sema, IAS, Commissioner and Secretary, H&FW, speaking at the panel discussion on Health Priorities in Northeast stressed the challenges of the healthcare system on drug addiction, and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and mental illness. He assured that Nagaland will end TB by 2025 as committed by India and elimination of Malaria by 2025. 

However, he was skeptical of ending AIDS and HIV by 2030 as Nagaland has the second-highest number of positive cases in the Country. Nonetheless, he stated that the State is on a war footing to test, treat, and prevent diseases.  

Sema highlighted the initiatives taken by the State Government to improve the health scenario in the State like the CMHIS that was launched to promote Universal Health Coverage along with PM-JAY to ensure accessible and affordable health care to all its citizens. 

He also lauded the World Bank for initiating and supporting several Health System Strengthening Projects in the State.

The Commissioner stated that the impact on the State’s health scenario has been overwhelmingly positive as a result of all these initiatives, a significant achievement as Nagaland is the best in IMR and MMR in the Country, the best Malaria controlled State in North East Region besides improvement of ICU Bed Infrastructure post-COVID.