Ranchi, Jamshedpur: Tata Steel Foundation and the National Health Mission (NHM), Jharkhand, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the state’s public health system through strategic, technical and implementation support. The three-year collaboration will focus on improving healthcare delivery, strengthening institutional capacities and advancing maternal, neonatal, infant and child health outcomes across Jharkhand.
Under the partnership, the Foundation will continue the implementation of its Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative Plus (MANSI+) across East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsawan districts. In addition, through Project SWASTH (State-wide Alliance for Sustainable Transformation of Health), the Foundation will extend strategic, techno-managerial and supportive supervision to NHM and the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand, across Dumka, Jamtara, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga, Gumla and Simdega.
The collaboration will work across six key pillars: facility-level service delivery, outreach-level service delivery, health governance, human resources for health, supply chain management, and public-private partnerships and health financing. It will also support the adoption of innovative models and digital tools to strengthen maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH+N) outcomes.
The partnership will focus on strengthening healthcare services at public health facilities and community levels, improving the capacity of frontline health workers and healthcare professionals, and enhancing evidence-based planning and governance. Key areas of intervention will include antenatal and postnatal care, newborn and child health, nutrition, anaemia, referral systems, teleconsultation, malaria and tuberculosis, alongside improvements in health information systems, supply chain management and district- and state-level review mechanisms.
A key aspect of the collaboration will be to strengthen community participation in healthcare delivery by supporting village-level health action plans, strengthening Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs), Jan Arogya Samitis (JAS) and Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS), and encouraging greater integration of health priorities into local development plans.
Sharing his thoughts on the partnership, Sourav Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Steel Foundation, said, “Through our partnership with the National Health Mission, Jharkhand, we aim to bring together our experience in community health with the State’s priorities and institutional mechanisms. Building on the learnings from MANSI+, Project SWASTH will focus on strengthening service delivery, supporting healthcare functionaries and enabling more responsive health governance. We remain committed to working alongside the Government and communities to contribute to improved health outcomes across Jharkhand.”
The MoU was signed by Dr. Prabhat Kumar, Director, Health Services, Government of Jharkhand and and Debdoot Mohanty, Chief Operating Officer, Tata Steel Foundation, in the presence of Shashi Prakash Jha (IAS), Mission Director, National Health Mission, Jharkhand and other senior officials from the Government of Jharkhand, the National Health Mission and Tata Steel Foundation who reiterated their commitment to strengthening the state’s public health delivery systems through collaborative efforts.
