Nagaland to soon get 2 new Integrated Public Health Labs

Union Health Minister unveils foundation plaques for IPHL in Mon and Dimapur

Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 12

Nagaland will soon get two Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHL) funded by the Prime Minister’s Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). The foundation stone plaques for the two laboratories, which will be attached to the District Hospitals in Mon and Dimapur, were remotely unveiled by the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemical Fertilisers, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya from Delhi at a programme on January 12. 

The two laboratories were among 80 upcoming health infrastructure improvement projects being taken up simultaneously in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura under the PM-ABHIM), Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) and the National Health Mission (NHM). 

In addition, Dr Madaviya inaugurated the permanent campus of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Guwahati, Assam; unveiled the foundation plaques of NIPER, Hyderabad and NIPER, Raebareli, and also dedicated five new facilities in the Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Science (RIPANS) in Aizawl, Mizoram. 

Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma; Tripura Chief Minister, Prof Manik Saha and the Health Ministers of the NE states joined the programme virtually. 
In Nagaland, a programme was organised at the District Hospital, Dimapur, where the state H & FW Minister was present.
Dr Madaviya said that the Union government is committed to improving education, health, connectivity and employment in the NE region. “If we talk about health services, by developing institutions like RIMS, RIPANS, NEIGRIHMS and AIIMS Guwahati, opportunities for education, health and employment are being created here, for which earlier people used to migrate from these areas,” he was quoted by the Press Information Bureau.

Under the PM-ABHIM and NHM, he said that significant strides have been made in advancing healthcare infrastructure.

According to him, funds amounting to over Rs 404 cr have been spent in dedicating 2 units, foundation stone laying of 49 units and inauguration of 32 units of health infrastructure across the region. Additionally, Rs 150 cr has been earmarked for a Super Specialty Block at the Assam Medical College and investment of Rs 127 cr for 5 “essential buildings” at RIPANS, Aizawl.
Over Rs 725 cr has been allocated across 80 health units/projects in the region, he added.

IPHLs 
Nagaland H & FW Minister, Paiwang Konyak informed at the programme, today, that IPHLs for 11 District Hospitals, excluding Noklak, and 1 Critical Care Unit at the Dimapur District Hospital has been sanctioned for the state, through the PM-ABHIM, to be established over a period of five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. He said that it is “our sole responsibility” to build the health facilities, as per the guideline prescribed by the Government of India. No forecast was made as to the completion of the two new laboratories. 

He did not quote figures but as per the state NHM web portal, Rs 3.97 cr for 2023-24, Rs 4.95 cr for 2024-25 and Rs 32.18 cr for 2025-26, under the PM-ABHIM, were approved by the Union H & FW Ministry in May 2023. 

In March 2022, the Union Minister of State for H & FW told in the Rajya Sabha that Rs 1482.5 cr were allocated for the phased establishment of IPHLs in all the 730 districts of the country under the PM-ABHIM for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26. 

The PM-ABHIM was launched in October 2021 to develop a country-wide robust health system to meet the needs of future pandemics, consistent with the outcomes envisioned in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-3.

It seeks to integrate essential public health functions and service delivery with the objective to strengthen grass roots public health institutions in rural and urban areas, to deliver universal comprehensive primary health care, including surveillance, active community engagement and improved risk communication, health education etc with capacities critical care services. 
The IPHLs have been conceptualised to provide comprehensive services, including infectious disease diagnostics and other diagnostic services such as haematology, clinical chemistry, microbiology and pathology under one roof. 

According to one official under the state health setup, the IPHL will strengthen the existing state-run laboratories. “The IPHLs will strengthen all laboratory services, including research works, besides confirmation of diseases instead of sending to other laboratories,” the official said.