Focus: GS II: Government policies and Interventions
Why in News?
The Union Health Ministry has introduced the SAKSHAM (Stimulating Advanced Knowledge for Sustainable Health Management), a Learning Management Information System (LMIS) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
About SAKSHAM (Stimulating Advanced Knowledge for Sustainable Health Management)
SAKSHAM is a comprehensive digital learning platform developed by the National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW). Here are some key points about SAKSHAM:
- Purpose: SAKSHAM serves as a platform for offering online training and medical education to healthcare professionals across the country.
- Inclusive Capacity Building: The objective of SAKSHAM is to ensure inclusive capacity building among health professionals, ranging from those working in rural and remote primary health centers to those in metropolitan cities’ tertiary care and corporate hospitals.
- Course Coverage: Currently, SAKSHAM: LMIS (Learning Management Information System) hosts over 200 public health and 100 clinical courses, which can be accessed online.
- Resource Repository: SAKSHAM will be developed as a centralized resource repository for training and teaching materials, providing healthcare professionals with easy access to relevant resources.
- Central Database: In addition to training and education, SAKSHAM will also serve as a central database of trained healthcare professionals in the country, facilitating better tracking and management of the healthcare workforce.
About National Institute of Health & Family Welfare
The National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW) is an autonomous institution established on 9th March 1977, operating under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Here are some key points about NIHFW:
- Establishment: NIHFW was founded with the purpose of serving as a think tank for the promotion of health and family welfare programs in the country.
- Mandate: The primary mandate of NIHFW is to provide expertise and contribute to policy development in the field of health and family welfare. It acts as a center for research, training, and capacity building in these areas.
- Training and Capacity Building: NIHFW plays a pivotal role in training health professionals, frontline health workers (such as Accredited Social Health Activists – ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives – ANMs), as well as central and state officers and healthcare staff. It is recognized as a premier organization for capacity building in the healthcare sector.
