Guwahati, : Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Assam today launched the official logo of the Swasthya Sewa Utsav at Janata Bhawan, Dispur. Present on the occasion were Shri. Keshab Mahanta, Hon’ble Health Minister, Assam, Dr. M S Lakshmi Priya, IAS, Mission Director, National Health Mission Assam, Shri. Kamaljit Talukdar, ACS, Director of Health Services (FW), Dr. Manoj Kumar Choudhury, Executive Director, National Health Mission Assam and State Officials of NHM Assam. The Government of Assam has decided to hold the Swasthya Sewa Utsav (SSU) from 6th April to 8th
April, 2023. As envisioned by Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Assam to hold a
Swasthya Sewa Utsav for Govt Health Institutions on the lines of Gunotsav, final preparations are in
full swing by the Department of Health & Family Welfare. SSU was also announced during the budget speech by Smt. Ajanta Neog, Finance Minister, Assam on 16th March, 2023.
In this regard, Paban Kumar Borthakur, IAS, Chief Secretary to the Govt of Assam chaired a VC from Janata Bhawan, Dispur, with all the Deputy Commissioners of the Districts, including the IAS/ACS/IFS officers who will be part of the external evaluation team. The Chief Secretary instructed all the District Administration to ensure that the SSU be held in a befitting manner. District officials are to be fully involved in this exercise since this is first of its kind in the country, which will set an example for strengthening the health ecosystem. During the VC, MD NHM Assam also informed all the attendees that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India is keen to take away the key learning’s from this exercise which has been initiated by the Health Department of the State. The Swasthya Sewa Utsav will be conducted in context of providing quality healthcare services across the State covering 1252 Government Health Institutions (21 – District Hospitals, 16 – Sub-divisional Civil Hospitals, 205 – Community Health Centres and 1010 – Primary Health Centres). The Govt Health Institutions will be assessed on infrastructure, human resources, and service delivery.The targeted Health Facilities will undergo internal as well as external assessment. Internal assessment will be conducted by internal evaluators for building facility level capacity for ‘Swasthya Sewa Utsav’.He/she will communicate the gaps to the in-charge of the health institution and will also help in bridging the same.The team for external evaluators will comprise of two assessors; one the Hon’ble Member of Parliament/ Member of Legislative Assembly/ IAS Officers/ IPS Officers/ ACS Officers and the other will be Faculties/Doctors/Post Graduate students of Medical Colleges.There will be a pre-defined checklist against each category of Health Institutions for the evaluators to complete the assessment of the facilities within the above mentioned 3 days. Total 450 teams will be engaged during the 3 day Utsav.The primary objectives of the Utsav are to provide comprehensive health care services to the community by assessing the gaps, to make the health facilities IPHS compliance, to create and share sustainable practices related to key areas of concern in public health facilities linked to positive health outcomes, to promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health facilities, to reduce infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, to reduce out of pocket expenditure of the public.In this regard a State Level and District level launch is planned on 6th April, 2023. It is an appeal to all the people of Assam to participate in the Utsav and contribute in making it a grand success.
