Meghalaya, Gates Foundation review health initiatives, focus on scaling up reforms
Partnership with the Gates Foundation was rooted in the state’s vision of transformative development outlined by the Chief Minister in 2018.
Shillong, Sept 13: Meghalaya’s health system strengthening initiatives came under review during a two-day partnership meeting between the State Health Systems Resource Centre (SHSRC) Meghalaya and the Gates Foundation India, with discussions focusing on how ongoing programmes can be strengthened and integrated into the state’s health system.
The bi-annual review brought together senior government officials and development partners to assess progress, identify areas requiring change and discuss ways to ensure that successful innovations are sustained as part of routine healthcare delivery.
Additional Chief Secretary to the Meghalaya Government, Sampath Kumar, said the partnership with the Gates Foundation was rooted in the state’s vision of transformative development outlined by the Chief Minister in 2018.
He urged participants to assess individual initiatives in the broader context of Meghalaya’s development goals and examine how they could contribute to long-term improvements in the state’s health system.
The discussions covered a wide range of areas, including maternal and newborn health, child nutrition, comprehensive primary healthcare, health financing, human resources, supply chain management and digital health.
Among the initiatives discussed was Mission 1000, Meghalaya’s flagship programme aimed at tackling childhood stunting during the first 1,000 days of life. Ronald Kynta, COO of the Meghalaya ECD Mission, presented the programme’s work involving frontline workers, caregiver empowerment, nutrition, community mobilisation and targeted support for children facing growth faltering.
The Meghalaya Medical Drugs and Services Limited (MMDSL) presented its efforts to strengthen the public health supply chain, including quality assurance, demand forecasting and improved visibility of medicine stocks and equipment breakdowns.
The Indian Institute of Public Health Shillong (IIPHS) shared its work on Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), Zero Dose and comprehensive primary healthcare.
Other partners participating in the review included PATH, IDinsight, FOGSI’s Project ADHUNA, India Primary Health Care Support Initiative (IPSI) and Oxford Policy Management.
The SHSRC team also presented updates on Comprehensive Maternal Anaemia Management, E-MOTIVE for prevention and management of postpartum haemorrhage, Outcome-Based Budgeting, the Community Feedback Mechanism, Comprehensive Primary Healthcare, Goal-Oriented Human Resource Management and the Annual Health Survey.
Senior government leadership, including Health Secretary and NHM Mission Director Ramkumar S, along with officials from the Health and Family Welfare Department and NHM Meghalaya, also participated in the review.
The meeting highlighted the growing emphasis on moving beyond individual health projects towards strengthening systems that can deliver sustained improvements across Meghalaya.
