Regional consultation workshop
SHILLONG: A two-day regional consultation workshop on strengthening public health sector for emergency preparedness (EPR) and response and disaster risk reduction (DRR) for Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura kicked off at the state Convention Centre here on Tuesday.
The workshop aims at understanding the current state of preparedness for response in the public health sector and devising a regional plan for the purpose.
The workshop is organised by the North Eastern Council in collaboration with the National Health Mission, Government of Meghalaya and supported by UNICEF and OXFAM.
Calvin H Kharshiing, Planning Advisor, North Eastern Council, inaugurated the workshop in the presence of senior officers from the Health departments of the participating states and representatives from UNICEF and OXFAM.
Speaking on the occasion, Calvin H Kharshiing said, “we are living in an age where there are multiplicities of natural disasters and the North East is highly vulnerable”. He said there are unique challenges for the NE in the health sector.
As per a study commissioned by NEC and carried out by NEDFi on the state of health care in the North East, some of the challenges identified were shortage of trained manpower, providing access to sparsely populated and far flung remote areas and improvement of governance in the public health sector.
Stating that one of the targets under the sustainable development goals is to strengthen the capacities of all countries, especially of developing countries for EPR and DRR of national and global health risk, the NEC, which is the regional planning body for North East, has many interventions and initiatives in the area of disaster management, one of which is working closely with NEIGRIHMS and NESAC to use drone technology to deliver essential services.
Kharshiing said that the NEC looked forward to the recommendations of the two-day consultations which can be taken forward in its planning in emergency preparedness of the health sector in the region. He further stressed on the need of evidence which could guide healthcare workers, especially for first time responders to reduce panic and bring in intervention that will help alleviate the situation when a disaster strikes.
Pankaj Anand, Director Programs and Advocacy, Oxfam India said that risk of disaster and emergencies, globally, is on the rise. Between 1998 and 2017, climate related and geo-physical disasters claimed the lives of over 1.3 million people and rendered another 4.4 billion injured, homeless or in need of emergency assistance. In the North East, each state has a unique concern and challenge and the need of the hour is to take stock of our preparedness.
In the current state of affairs, Pankaj Anand said that the Northeastern states are far from equipped to efficiently respond to a massive public health disaster and ensuring minimum causality and loss. Therefore, there is a need to work towards greater resilience to meet the challenges and also to work towards formulating specific preparedness action plan which can be linked to departmental flagship programmes.
Madhulika Jonathan, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Assam drew attention to the plight of women and children in emergency situations. She also spoke on the need for minimum preparedness measures which should be in place for rapid response, including measures to strengthen new born health components and minimise the risk of gender-based violence.