Landscaping capacity-building initiatives in epidemiology in India: bridging the demand–supply gap.
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Date
2015-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia
Abstract
India, the second most populous country in the world, has 17% of the world’s
population but its total share of global disease burden is 21%. With epidemiological
transition, the challenge of the public health system is to deal with a high burden of
noncommunicable diseases, while still continuing the battle against communicable
diseases. To combat this progression, public health capacity-building initiatives
for the health workforce are necessary to develop essential skills in epidemiology
and competencies in other related fields of public health. This study is an effort
to systematically explore the training programmes in epidemiology in India and
to understand the demand–supply dynamics of epidemiologists in the country. A
systematic, predefined approach, with three parallel strategies, was used to collect
and assemble the data regarding epidemiology training in India and assess the
demand–supply of epidemiologists in the country. The programmes offering training
in epidemiology included degree and diploma courses offered by departments of
preventive and social medicine/community medicine in medical colleges and 19
long-term academic programmes in epidemiology, with an estimated annual output
of 1172 per year. The demand analysis for epidemiologists estimated that there is
need for at least 3289 epidemiologists to cater for the demand of various institutions
in the country. There is a wide gap in demand–supply of epidemiologists in the
country and an urgent need for further strengthening of epidemiology training in
India. More capacity-building and training initiatives in epidemiology are therefore
urgently required to promote research and address the public health challenges
confronting the country.
Description
Keywords
capacity-building, demand and supply, epidemiologists, epidemiology, India
Citation
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health 2015;4(2): 204-212.