Bihar Government has signed an agreement with John Hopkins University USA for pre-service education in Nursing and Mid-Wifery. This would boost the manpower training in quality maternal and neonatal child health (MNCH) and family planning services at grass roots level.
Jhpiego (an affiliate of John Hopkins University) is considered to be a pioneer in the field of strengthening reproductive health services worldwide. This agreement was signed between Jhpiego and State Health Society (SHS), Bihar.
The move would help in reducing maternal mortality rate (MMR), infant mortality rate (IMR) and total fertility rate (TFR) in the state, which are higher than the national average.” Bihar’s IMR is 52/1,000 against the national average of 50/1,000 while MMR is 261 against the all-India level of 212. The state’s TFR is 3.9 against the national average of 2.7
Jhpiego country director Dr Bulbul Sood said SHS, Bihar will lead the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) formed for successful implementation of the project, whereas Jhpiego will provide the state government the requisite technical assistance. Dr Sood also announced setting up of the sixth nodal centre in Bihar at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) by Indian Nursing Council (INC) which would serve as a pedagogic resource centre for strengthening PSE in the state. INC had set up five nodal centres countrywide – Delhi, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Vadodara and Vellore.