A one-day State Level Training of Trainers on the revised Kayakalp Guidelines and National Quality Assurance Standard for Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHL) under the National Health Mission (NHM) was held at the Conference Hall of the Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Kohima, Nagaland, on the 4 October 2024. During a short inaugural function, the Mission Director of NHM, Dr Akuo Shorie, while welcoming the trainers and trainees present, mentioned that cleanliness and hygiene in hospitals are critical to preventing infections. He encouraged the Medical Officers and District Quality Assurance Consultants present to provide patients and visitors with a positive experience and to promote behavior related to maintaining a clean environment among users.
Chairing the program, Dr Mereninla Senlem, State Program Officer of NHM, also stated that since the inception of Kayakalp – A Clean Hospital Initiative, infection control practices and hygiene promotion have improved significantly and have boosted positive community participation in the health sector. She added that NQAS IPHL is a newly launched initiative of the Ministry, and in our state, it is yet to be operationalized. Once the facilities are operationalized, the state can target NQAS.
The participants will receive in-depth training on the two components of the revised Kayakalp Guidelines and NQAS IPHL by trainers from the Regional Resource Center – NE, Guwahati, comprising Dr Ravikar Singh, Consultant QPS RRC NE, and SL Chochoi, Fellow QPS RRC-NE. The participants of this ToT will further train personnel at the district-level health facilities.
Kayakalp is a national initiative launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to promote cleanliness and enhance the quality of healthcare facilities in India. The scheme’s objectives are to promote cleanliness, hygiene, infection control, and environment-friendly practices in public health facilities; to incentivize and recognize public healthcare facilities that show exemplary performance in adhering to standard cleanliness and infection control protocols; to inculcate a culture of ongoing assessment and peer review of performance related to hygiene, cleanliness, and sanitation; and to create and share sustainable practices related to improved cleanliness in public health facilities linked to positive health outcomes.