Delhi Govt launches certificate course to train 5000 health assistants

New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday launched a certificate course for health assistants and said the government wants to equip the youth with all the basic skills and knowledge to fight any medical crisis.

Noting that the Delhi government plans to make it a long-term initiative, Sisodia said within four days, 1.5 lakh people have applied for this training programme.

Also Read: Ahead of Doctors Day, PM Modi talks about contribution of Doctors

The Delhi government has disbursed Rs 5 crore for this initiative. The course has been initiated in partnership with the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (IP University).

"We want to create a model youth force in Delhi which will be equipped with all the basic skills and knowledge to fight any medical crisis.

"Not only will our youth be prepared to fight any crisis, they will also be able to provide medical assistance to their family and people in their community," Sisodia said after launching the course.

Referring to the application of 1.5 lakh people for the programme, the deputy chief minister said, "This indicates that people are enthusiastic to be a part of this course and learn. While in the first batch we have inducted 5,000 trainees, we plan on scaling this and making it a long-term and ongoing initiative," he said.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the certificate course is extremely important to tackle any medical crisis of the future.

"This course will be able to provide individuals with employment opportunities considering there is an increasing need of health assistants in hospitals who will be able to assist nurses and doctors," he said.

The two-week long course will include 500 trainees in the first batch, who will be equipped with the knowledge of life support, heart functioning, Covid-care, blood testing, sampling, first aid, home care etc, an official statement from the government said.

The trainees will be taught how to measure oxygen, blood pressure, and how to inject medicines as well, it added.

The course is divided into two stages – the first week will include didactic and demonstrative training, while in the second week, trainees will receive a practical experience.

Nine hospitals in Delhi have been roped in for this course, where trainees will be given basic training.

Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Chacha Nehru Child Clinic, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Ambedkar Medical College, ESIC Hospital Basaidharapur, Hindu Rao Hospital and Vardhaman Mahavir Hospital are the nine hospitals roped in for the programme, the statement said.

The Delhi government will provide training in batches of 500, with a total of 5,000 trainees, who will receive a certificate and medical kit upon completion of course. The medical kit includes blood pressure monitoring device, thermometer and oximeter.

Earlier this month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that his government would train 5,000 youth to assist doctors and nurses as part of its preparations for a possible third wave of COVID-19.

Health assistants or community nursing assistants will be imparted two weeks' basic training in nursing and life care. The training will start from June 28 in batches of 500 candidates, he had said.

Also Read:251 Doctors under Bond Service move Gujarat HC challenging Govt's FIR order