BANGALORE: A community public health plan, run in cooperation with neighbourhood associations and ward sabhas, is essential for improving health indicators in the State, says a recent World Bank-sponsored report.

A study on "Restructuring Local Environment Management for Better Health Outcomes" by the Institute for Social and Economic Change has recommended for overhauling of the healthcare system to tackle diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, malaria, worm infections and filariasis.

In fact, the U.N. millennium goals had also identified worm infection as a serious problem that affects the cognition and physical growth of children. Children who were not given de-worming medicines did far worse than those who had medicines in schools. Diarrhoea was also found to be a major public health risk. Since good hygiene and sanitation play a vital role in maintaining good public health, the report says, the community health plan committee will prepare a timetable for cleaning streets and storm water drains, ensure cleanliness in public facilities and safety of food and water. The committee will comprise health officials, neighbourhood associations and non-governmental organisations.

The need for setting up such community and neighbourhood associations is critical because "population-based preventive health services have remained neglected in the State," according to the report. "Maintaining good public health will reduce infant and maternal mortality rates by over 60 per cent in the State." At present, the infant mortality rate (the number of deaths per thousand live births) is 55 and the maternal mortality rate (the number of deaths per one lakh live deliveries) is 195. Though the rates are below the national average, they are higher than the rates in States such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, according to officials of the Health Department.

The Government plans to bring down the maternal morality rate to 100 and reduce the infant mortality rate to 40. Apart from neighbourhood associations, there is a need for setting up a State public health council and health board, which is run on the basis of private-public partnership and to overlook the work of the Health Department. To bring about an overall change in the functioning of the health mechanism in the State, the formation of a unified Public Health Act has been mooted by the report.

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