Date: 16 April 2025 | Location: Mini Conference Hall, NHM, Bhubaneswar
A state-level stakeholder meeting was held on 16th April 2025 at Bhubaneswar under the chairpersonship of Dr. D. Brundha, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) to discuss ongoing efforts and future strategies for strengthening primary health care at Kalahandi, Odisha under the IPSI project. The meeting was attended by key officials from NHM, SHSRC, AIIMS Bhubaneswar, AIIMS New Delhi, and Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Dr. S.K. Swain, Additional Director (NCD), welcomed the participants and set the tone for the meeting. Dr. Akriti Mehta (JHU) presented the scope and progress of IPSI-supported interventions at Kalahandi district since September 2023. This was followed by Dr. Binod Kumar Patro (PI, AIIMS Bhubaneswar), who shared significant project milestones including NQAS certifications of primary health care facilities, SaQsham registration updates, and the implementation of a Point of Care Quality Improvement (POCQI) model for NCDs aimed at continuum of care of hypertension and diabetes patients.
Dr. Harsha from JHU presented findings from a service readiness and assessment study, identifying critical improvement areas. Future initiatives were also discussed, including competency-based training for district health managers on data use, and CPHC workshops.
Proposals for POCQI and competency-based course for district managers received support from the MD-NHM and were approved for district-level implementation. The Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) survey findings were acknowledged and are being considered for publication and further action.
The meeting concluded with a commitment from the NHM leadership to facilitate implementation of these initiatives with active involvement from district and block-level teams, ensuring data-driven and patient-centered primary health care at Kalahandi.
