Indian cabinet approves controversial community health training

India’s cabinet has given the green light to a three and a half year course in community health that would produce a cadre of healthcare providers to work in primary healthcare centres across the country.

The approval came three years after the health ministry proposed the course. The idea had the support of a large number of experts in public health but faced resistance from the medical profession. A parliamentary panel on health condemned the course earlier this year.1

“It feels like a long, hard battle has been won,” said Kunchala Shyamprasad, a cardiothoracic surgeon and former member of a government task force on medical education.

The graduates of the BSc Community Health course would provide ambulatory care and promote preventive care in the …