STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: To promote inter sectoral coordination between ICDS and Health Department, a meeting was held on the directions of Gazzanfer Hussain, Commissioner/ Secretary to Government Health and Medical Education Department under the Co-chairmanship of Dr Yashpal Sharma, Mission Director NHM, J and K and Dr G.N Itoo, Mission Director, ICDS at Nagrota on Tuesday.
The meeting was called to increase service coverage for women and children and ensuring better quality of services by both the Health and Social Welfare Department in coordinated manner at the grass root, district and state levels.
Dr Yashpal Sharma said although there is co-ordination between ICDS and Health Department at the field level, particularly in the immunisation programme, there is a need for more effective co-ordination between both the departments at district and state levels for implementing the other components of the National Health Mission more effectively which include Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram and Disease Control Programmes. “There is considerable overlap in the duties being performed by the AWWs and the ANMs and there is a need to rationalise their roles and responsibilities by ICDS and Health Department”, he added.
Dr Itoo informed that he had designated nodal officers at divisional and district levels for effective coordination at all the levels and sought support of National Health Mission in training of ICDS workers for effective implementation of various schemes. It was decided that effective implementation of Mother and Child Protection Card shall be the joint responsibility of both the departments.
It was reiterated that Anganwadi Centres will continue to serve as the focal point for all health and nutrition services and as part of the National Health Mission, Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) fixed every month at the AWC to provide antenatal, postnatal, family planning and child health services with active support from ASHAs shall be held in coordinated manner.
The meeting was attended by Joint Director ICDS, Deputy Director (ICDS Planning), Programme Officers of ICDS, Divisional Nodal Officer, NHM, Jammu and Programme Managers of State Health Society, J and K.