ADB ties up with Palike to train health officials

BENGALURU: The Asian Development Bank has partnered with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to set up a technical support unit, supporting the National Urban Health Mission- Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Public Health Foundation of India.

The unit will train health officials on dealing with pandemics. It will focus on vulnerable populations, stakeholders to plan strategies and chalk out initiatives in collaboration with BBMP. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad told The New Indian Express that the unit was being set up for one year to start with. Based on its success, the tenure would be extended annually.

The main aim is that PHFI will do capacity building for BBMP staff and researchers on pandemics and epidemics. They will give all the required knowledge on how to deal with it and the staff will be trained. This will be the first of its kind in the city and state, he said.

Dr Giridhar Babu is serving as the co-chair of the public health task force for Covid-19 response team in BBMP. The unit will comprise Dr Suresh S Shapeti, IIPH- PHFI, Team Lead; Dr T N Sathyanarayana, social scientist and programme manager; Dr Biswamitra Sahu, qualitative research expert; Eunice Lobo,  public health expert; Deepa R, public health expert and T S Ramesh,  Administrative officer – all from IIPH- PHFI.