338 CHOs to get provisional postings

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 19

As many as 338 Community Health Officers (CHOs) will be given provisional postings in Health Sub Centres in the state and these posts will be filled with candidates who have completed the bridge course after BSc (Nursing), said Health and Family Welfare Minister Vipin Singh Parmar here yesterday.

He said that B.Sc nurses were provided with the bridge course certified by IGNOU and the first batch was being posted in Health Sub Centres of the state, which have been upgraded to Health Wellness Centres (HWCs). The posts of CHO are being filled through HLL Company, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Central Government. He added that the CHOs would deliver 12 essential services regarding communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

Parmar said that the CHOs would have the responsibilty to improve access to health care in rural and remote areas for marginalised and vulnerable families, reduce pocket expenses of families on health care, increase utilisation of public health services at the primary care level, reduce fragmentation of care and reduce the workload of secondary and tertiary care facilities.

He added that the posting of CHOs would help in strengthening public health activities related to preventive diseases and promoting health and measurement of health outcomes for the population. The CHOs would be the first point of care or source of information for health-related issues for the community by virtue of the proximity of HWCs to its catchment population, he added.