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The National Institute of
Health and Family Welfare
(NIHFW), an autonomous organisation,
was established in the year
1977 by the merger of two
national level institutions,
viz. the NIHAE (National Institute
of Health Administration and
Education) and the NIFP (National
Institute of Family Planning).
The Institute addresses a
wide range of issues on health
and family welfare from a
variety of perspectives through
the departments of Communication,
Community Health Administration,
Education and Training, Epidemiology,
Management Sciences, Medical
Care and Hospital Administration,
Population Genetics and Human
Development, Planning and
Evaluation, Reproductive Bio-Medicine,
Statistics and Demography
and Social Sciences. Vision
To be seen as an Institute
of global repute in public
health and family welfare
management. Mission To act
as an ‘Apex Technical
Institute’ as well as
a ‘Think Tank’
for promotion of health and
family welfare programmes
in the country. Core Values
Excellence, Equity, Convergence,
Market Orientation and Sustainability
have been the overall core
values of the Institute. Thrust
Areas The focus of the Institute
has been centered around major
issues in line with Millennium
Development Goals viz. Health
and related Policies, Public
Health Management, Health
Sector Reforms, Health Economics
and Financing, Population
Stabilization/Optimisation,
Reproductive Health, Nutrition,
HIV/AIDS, Health Services
Research, Hospital Management,
Communication for Health,
Training Technology in Health
and Gender Sensitisation.
Areas of Concern Further to
support the Millennium Development
Goals, the Institute has decentralised
its activities specifically
with reference to: •
Reproductive and Child Health-II
• HIV/AIDS • Gender
Sensitivity/Care of Girl Child
• Population Stabilization
• Advocacy for Health
• Adolescent Health
• Public-Private Partnership
• Social Health Insurance
• Health Management
Information System •
Care of Elderly • Population
Education Functioning of the
Institute The functioning
of the Institute is governed
by three top-most bodies viz.
Governing Body, the Standing
Finance Committee and the
Programme Advisory Committee.
The governing body, constituted
under the Chairmanship of
the Hon'ble Union Minister
for Health and Family Welfare,
looks after the policy decisions
of the Institute. The Standing
Finance Committee controls
the financial management of
the Institute. The Programme
Advisory Committee advises
the Institute in matters related
to education and training,
research and evaluation, specialised
projects, and consultancy,
advisory and specialised services
for promotion of health and
family welfare programmes
in the country. Education
and Training In-service training
of health personnel of various
categories, undertaking research
studies/projects, especially,
operational research through
the multi-disciplinary research
team and establishment of
institutional mechanisms for
co-operation/coordination
with health planners, health
care providers and managerial
experts have been the major
areas of focus and interest
of the Institute. The Institute
has been identified by the
Union Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare as the Nodal
Institute for coordinating
in-service training under
Reproductive and Child Health-II/National
Rural Health Mission in the
country. Over the years, the
Institute has become very
popular for its in-service
training programmes, for example,
the European Commission has
been supporting the ‘Professional
Development Course in Management,
Public Health and Health Sector
Reforms for District Medical
Officers’. Major education
and training programmes of
the Institute include (i)
a three-year Post-Graduate
Degree Course M.D. in Community
Health Administration, (ii)
a two-year Post-Graduate Diploma
in Health Administration,
(iii) a one-year Post-Graduate
Certificate Course in Health
and Family Welfare Management
through Distance Learning,
(iv) a one-year Post-Graduate
Certificate Course in Hospital
Management through Distance
Learning; and (v) various
short-term training courses,
ranging from one to ten weeks
duration. Courses under Proposal
(i) Multi-Institutional Masters
Course in Health Management
There are a number of initiatives
to train the medical personnel
to man the health care programmes
at different levels. The doctors
are encouraged to go in for
Diploma in Public Health and
Master’s Degree in Community
Medicine. However, these courses
do not fulfil the requirements
of a manager who can manage
the health care delivery system
at different levels. Therefore,
the Multi-Institutional Masters
Course in Health Management
has been proposed by the Institute.
This course will be conducted
by the Institute in collaboration
with Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad; International Institute
for Population Sciences, Mumbai;
and Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Mumbai. The course
is in the process of development.
(ii) Masters in Public Health
We need to induct freshly
trained health care managers
into the system so that they
can help the health system
become more responsive to
the needs of the community
and also ensure proper utilization
of funds. Therefore, the Institute
has taken up this issue in
a big way and has initiated
dialogue with institutions/universities
of repute to develop master’s
level course in public health.
Research and Evaluation The
research programmes of the
Institute pertain to operational
research, applied research
and evaluation of health programmes.
A few basic research studies
in the area of reproductive
health are also undertaken.
Many studies are undertaken
on the request of the Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare,
Government of India, international
and bilateral organizations.
In addition, the Institute
faculty as well as the research
staff members develop research
projects on major issues of
health and family welfare
of national and regional importance.
Specialised Projects (a) National
Nodal Agency for Training
under NRHM The National Institute
of Health and Family Welfare
has been designated as the
National Nodal Agency for
organizing and monitoring
the training programmes under
NRHM in collaboration with
18 collaborative training
institutes in the country.
Development of training materials
and guidelines; training of
trainers; and disbursement
of funds and monitoring of
training activities, both
physical and financial; were
the major responsibilities
of the Institute under NRHM/RCH-II.
(b) Annual Sentinel Surveillance
for HIV Infection NIHFW has
been entrusted with the responsibility
of supervision and monitoring
of the Annual Sentinel Surveillance
activities by the National
AIDS Control Organization
(NACO) for ensuring quality
assurance and control as well
as to prepare a report on
the epidemiological status
of HIV Infection in the country
right from the start of the
activity in 1998. The sentinel
surveillance was undertaken,
using “Unlinked Anonymous
Testing Strategy”, among
different population groups
representing core risk groups,
bridge population and general
population. The total sites
were eleven hundred plus ensuring
at least one site per district.
NIHFW conducted trainings
of officers from all States
AIDS Control Societies for
web-based data entry at (NIHFW
website) and Geographical
Information System for data
entry and integrated data
analysis. (c) National Public
Health Consortium National
Public Health Consortium is
an effort to pool the experiences
and expertise of several National,
Regional and State Institutions
as well as NGOs, who have
been contributing to the area
of health and family welfare
training. The objectives of
the Consortium include : (i)
to carry out research as well
as to disseminate research
findings to other collaborating
institutions; (ii) to develop
innovative approaches to improve
training process, learning
materials and exchange materials,
resources and expertise in
the area of training and human
resource development; (iii)
to assist collaborating institutions
to strengthen their competencies
in training and research;
and (iv) to develop resource
bases on research and training
in community health. (d) National
Health Management Consortium
National consortium of health
management was set-up in the
Institute in 1992 in collaboration
with various management and
public health institutions
located in various parts of
the country. The main idea
behind the consortium was
to discuss as well as to workout
solutions to various managerial
problems faced by the health
mangers in the delivery of
health care services in the
country. Now, the health management
consortium is focussing on
issues concerning National
Rural Health Mission. (e)
Integrated Management of Neo-natal
and Childhood Illness (IMNCI)
The IMNCI aims at addressing
issues such as knowledge of
parents about the protective
value of breast feeding, ignorance
of parents about warning signs
and symptoms of diseases,
importance of home-based care,
special care for under nourished
new-borns, etc. The Institute
has assumed a very significant
role in this direction as
a nodal training centre and
is responsible for coordinating
and implementing the operational
guidelines of IMNCI in 125
districts of the country.
(f) Rapid Assessment of Health
Interventions for NRHM The
Institute collaborates with
UNFPA to strengthen the capabilities
of a set of identified institutions,
particularly in the EAG states,
with special reference to
RCH as well as to help them
conduct research on priority
areas as relevant to local
programme needs. The findings
of the studies conducted in
a rapid mode will help the
programme managers to bring
about an improvement in the
programme implementation.
Specialised Services A set
of specialised services are
provided by the institute
as a part of its commitment
and adherence to the principle
of service to the community.
(a)Clinical Services NIHFW
has been recognized as one
of the centres for work in
the area of reproductive health
care. The laboratory facilities
for an in-depth investigation
of the causes for the reproductive
disorders such as endocrinological,
anatomical/surgical, genetic
and others deserve mention.
The scientific approaches
adopted in the management
of endocrinological and reproductive
disorders and infertility
management have paid rich
dividends. Besides, the needs
of adolescents and youth have
been looked after by the Adolescent
and Youth Clinic of the Institute
by giving them counselling
and health education so as
to help them to lead a healthy
life. (b) National Documentation
Centre (NDC) The National
Documentation Centre (NDC)
caters to the needs of the
health professionals and researchers
in and outside the Institute
as well as to the participants
of various training courses.
The National Documentation
Centre is being expanded as
an information resource centre
to provide necessary information
on health and family welfare
to all researchers and trainers
all over the country. Over
a period of two decades, it
has a well-balanced and up-to-date
collection of over 70,000
documents including books,
periodicals, technical and
research reports, conference
proceedings, modules and other
non-book materials. NDC has
special collection of the
following: • WHO publications
• UN publications •
NIHFW publications •
Census publications •
National Family Health Survey
Publications • RCH-RHS
Publications • Back
volumes of periodicals The
Institute plans to set up
a National Documentation Centre
for Child Health in NDC in
collaboration with Norway-India
Partnership Initiative (NIPI)
to improve child health in
the country through knowledge,
sharing and dissemination.
(c) Department of Communication
NIHFW has the facility for
projection services, photography
and preparation of audio-visual
material for different training
courses of the institute.
Department of communication
is planning to produce documentaries,
corporate films, dvd films
and spots for dissemination
of health and family welfare
messages through different
modes like AIR, Doordarshan,
etc. to promote awareness
among mass. Media advocacy
has become the prior motto
of the organization to achieve
a positive BCC outcome all
over the country. (d) Print
and Publication The Institute
publishes its quarterly journal,
Health and Population: Perspectives
and Issues, with articles
on research studies conducted
all over the country. This
is indexed/abstracted by eight
national and international
abstracting agencies and circulated
at both national and international
levels. Besides, the Institute
brings out regularly a quarterly
newsletter as well as attempts
to bring out certain specialised
publications on different
health programmes being launched
by the Government of India.
The Institute is well equipped
with the printing unit to
undertake the printing activities
of the Institute. (e) Reprography
Unit The research, training,
consultancy, administrative
and documentation activities
of the Institute are supported
by the Reprography Unit of
the institute. (f) Media Learning
Resource Centre The Media
Learning Resource Centre of
the Institute has three service
units, namely; micro-teaching
unit, audio-visual unit and
training resource material
development unit. Micro-teaching
unit provides trainers and
faculty an opportunity to
improve their training skills.
Audio-visual unit facilitates
the pre-listening and pre-viewing
of the audio-visual material
before it is used for training.
(g) Computer Centre The Computer
Center is linked with all
departments/ units in the
institute through campus wide
computer network supported
by powerful servers. Leased
line connection is obtained
to provide Internet facilities
to Faculty, Research and Administrative
staff. The functioning of
academic cell, administration,
finance, hospital, hostel,
library, stores etc. is fully
computerised under the initiatives
taken by the computer centre.
The Institute started the
establishment of campus Wide
Area Network and computerising
different units in the institute.
The Computer Centre is also
providing access to MEDLARS
Search Facility through its
MEDLINE Database and Delhi
Library Network (DELNET) databases.
The MEDLARS Search (Medical
Literature Analysis and Retrieval
Systems) is one of the National
Library of Medicine’s
(NLM) databases. In Delhi,
National Informatics Centre
(NIC) has set up Indian Medlars
Centre (IMC) with an agreement
with NLM, USA. MEDLINE is
NLM’s bibliographic
database covering the fields
of medicine, nursing, dentistry,
veterinary medicine and the
preclinical sciences. It is
one of the most popular and
extensively used database
of the 40 databases constituting
MEDLARS. It covers 3800 core
biomedical journals from 70
countries. It includes citations
from Index Medicus, Index
to Dental Literature and International
Nursing Index. The MEDLINE
database of Indian Medlars
Centre can be accessed by
users at Computer Centre,
NIHFW through NICNET, the
National Informatics Centre's
satellite based computer communication
network. This database is
updated once a month. MEDLARS
system is accessible to NICNET
users 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. Dial up users in Delhi
as well as those users outside
Delhi who have their own VSATs
can access the system round
the clock. Networking The
Institute has been known for
its networking at the national
as well as at international
levels. The Institute has
the privilege of having worked
with Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, UK; East-West Centre,
Hawaii, USA; European Commission;
UNFPA; UNICEF; WHO; USAID;
World Bank; etc. Facilities
(a) Teaching Block The Teaching
block has 10 lecture halls,
2 seminar rooms, 1 conference
hall (with 70 seating capacity),
and 1 auditorium (with 186
seating capacity) with public
address system and audio-video
recording facilities. (b)
Hostel and Guest House The
Institute has boarding and
lodging facilities and can
accommodate more than 100
persons at a time. Administrative
functions of the hostel are
fully computerised. Hostel
is also connected with the
campus wide computer network.
(c) The Clinical Block A separate
building for in-patient facilities
is attached with the clinical
block where provisions are
made for keeping about 20
patients for observation.
The out-patient and in-patient
facilities include modern
diagnostic equipments; including
ultrasound. (d) The Animal
House For bio-medical research
the Animal house maintains
and breeds a colony of laboratory
animals like rat, mice, guinea-pig
and rabbit and maintains a
large number of non human
primates like bonnet monkeys.
Future Direction In the light
of Millennium Development
Goals, the Institute has set
certain goals with reference
to (i) improve maternal health;
(ii) reduce child mortality;
(iii) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases; (iv) develop
a global partnership for development;
(v) promote gender equality
and empower women and (vi)
ensure environmental sustainability.
Besides, the Institute would
like focus on equity, adolescent
health. Primary education
and ways and means to eradiate
poverty and hunger.
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