NIMHANS signs MoU to start Public Health Management Centre

New Delhi, Apr 17 (UNI) An MoU among the National Institute for Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Public Health Foundation of India and WHO was signed today for setting up a Centre for Training Personnel required for public health management, teaching and research.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr V S Acharya, Vice Chairperson, NIMHANS Governing Council and prevention of diseases.

The new centre will function within the NIMHANS campus, Director of NIMHANS Dr Nagaraj, who was also present, said.

He said there was dreath of candidates to manage public health management issues and specialist doctors could not be spared to handle it because their services should be utilised for treating patients.

The proposed centre would impart training on various aspects of public health right from town planning and design of the hospitals, trauma centres and health economics.

It was decided at the General Council to seek an amendment in the Institutional Act to provide NIMHANS the required autonomy on the pattern of AIIMS from its present status as a Deemed University.

The 21 departments of NIMHANS have a collective intake of 350 Post Graduate students.

The NIMHANS was proposing to increase its intake by 50 per cent over the next two years to accomodate 27 per cent OBC candidates.

Dr Acharya said Karnataka Government had started three new colleges in Mandya, Hassan and Belgaum from the present academic year and three more were to come up by next year at Shivmoga, Raichur and Bidar, where the building infrastructure and required equipments were ready. Even 80 per cent of the required faculty was in place, he said.

Besides, the government had started Nursing colleges offering bachelors degeree in Hassan, Hole Narasimpur, Gulbarga and NIMHANS.

Dr Acharya said a transparent admission system for various undergraduate colleges in the state was in place.

UNI