With an aim to determine health impact of existing and new policies which have a bearing on health of population, a dedicated “health impact cell” for conducting analysis is in the anvil.
According to the Planning Commission’s proposed document on health, the views of the cell will be taken into consideration before framing or modifying policies.
Opining that the impact of policies and programmes of non-health sectors on health remains invisible for long periods.
The plan panel has recommended to the health ministry to constitute a dedicated health impact cell to determine the health impact of existing policies of non-health ministries which can potentially impact public health.
The proposed health cell would also perform monitoring and surveillance functions in order to continuously gather information on health impacts of policies.
“It can harmonise the programme data obtained from the sector’s non-health ministries with the health impact reports received from the field, such as on water and sanitation-related disease outbreaks and determine the gaps in policies as well as in programme implementation,” said the proposed health chapter for the 12th 5-year plan.
According to the policy experts, the proposed health cell would also be equipped to serve early warnings and coordinate responses to health-related emergencies.