Rural healthcare providers to help tackle 2nd wave

Kolkata: The state administration has decided to utilize

rural healthcare providers

to tackle the pandemic during this surge in Covid cases. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has announced around 2.7 lakh rural health providers will be asked to help and would be imparted basic training.

Already, Asha workers have been roped in to help. In rural areas, these healthcare providers will be of help to the patients.

The state adopted training drives for informal healthcare providers (IHP) after West Bengal Liver Foundation conducted a study. Nobel Laureate Abhjit Vinayak Banerjee was part of the study team. “These IHPs are the first point of contact for patients in villages. Bringing them into the fold will help combat the second wave,” said SSKM hepatology head Abhijit Chowdhury, who is part of the government’s training committee of IHPs. tnn