‘Skill for Life, Save a Life’ to promote skill development in the health sector

New Delhi: The ministry for health and family welfare recently launched the ‘Skill for Life, Save a Life’ initiative. Speaking on the occasion, the union health minister, Mr J P Nadda said that India enjoys a demographic dividend as more than 65% youth are below the age of 35 years and the Government is determined to seize this opportunity by providing adequate skills and employability to the youth for a strong foundation for continued and sustainable growth.

‘Skills for Life, Save a Life’ Initiative aims to upscale the quantity and quality of trained professionals in the healthcare system. Under this initiative, the various courses are planned to be initiated targeting specific competencies for healthcare professionals as well as for general public.

Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Mr C K Mishra, Secretary (Health & Family Welfare) and Dr. Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India were also present at the occasion.

Speaking at the function, Mr Nadda said that skilling the youth enhances the employability and skilled India will help the nation reap rich dividends. “This shall reduce the gap between expectations of employment of the youth and the actual job they get”, Minister added. The Health Minister further pointed out that skill enhances economy of the country, too by reducing the gap between demand and supply of trained and skilled manpower in every field. The potential for skilled healthcare workers and professionals is immense in the country. Such courses ensure that the health sector gets the adequate skilled health workers.

The curriculum has been designed by National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. The health minister highlighted that in India 1,324 accidents occur on roads every day and a life is lost every 4 minutes and measures taken in the first 10 minutes can save a life. It was thus announced that the Ministry is initiating its’ ‘Skill a Life, Save a Life’ program by launching First Responder course for professionals as well as general public, to be conducted in Central and State government training institutes from the next month across the country in each district, to empower every single citizen of the country to be the first person to provide first aid and initial care in case of an emergency.

Addressing the participants, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said that skill development provides platform for lakhs of youth in the country to get trained for employment. The Skill Development Ministry is providing several certified courses for skilling to provide manpower for various areas of work. This has provided employment to lakhs of young boys and girls, many of whom haven’t had the opportunity for formal education.

Mr Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State for Health and Family emphasised on the issue of lives lost during delivery and pregnancy due to lack of access to primary care. Shri Kulaste stated that the trained and skilled personnel, through this innovative training course, will be able to help save lives in the golden hour during an emergency situation.

Highlighting the importance of the initiative, Mr C K Mishra, Secretary (HFW) stated that India is working towards the attainment of the global mandate of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for providing affordable, accountable and appropriate health care of assured quality to the fellow citizens, which is possible through substantive and strategic investment in the health workforce. “This is part of a larger plan and program for ensuring Universal Health Coverage. This program will provide trained and skilled people by broadening the base to include the community. Through such programs, we create a mass of ‘first responder’ who complements the specialists/experts to fill vacuum of adequate trained professionals,” Mr Mishra added.