Mumbai : Tata Trusts and GE Healthcare, in an effort to bridge the skills gap in the healthcare sector, have entered into a partnership to train 10,000 youth across various technical areas over a three-year period.
GE Healthcare Education Institute (GE HCI) will design, develop and execute the courses through a mix of both classroom training and interactive training exercises. The courses will help people graduate as X-ray, radiography, medical equipment, anaesthesia, operation theatre, cardiac care technicians and diabetic education counsellors.
The candidates will also undergo continuous assessment and internships during the course of this programme. The successful candidates, upon clearing the Healthcare Sector Skills Council (HSSC) exam, would be granted a certification from HSSC.
The announcement was made in the presence of Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, Terri Bresenham, President & CEO, Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare and Banmali Agrawala, President and CEO, GE South Asia.
In the next three years, 10,000 candidates will receive loan scholarships from Tata Trusts upon qualifying for the course. GE will also fund certain candidates on the basis of their eligibility.
“At Tata Trusts, making a sustainable difference to lives is the core essence of philanthropy. Tata Trusts aim to drive improvement in healthcare delivery by enabling availability of skilled and motivated health care personnel. We believe that this partnership with GE Healthcare will allow many bright young minds, especially women, to come forward and bridge this gap,” R Venkataramanan, Managing Trustee, Tata Trusts said.
It is estimated that the current requirement for allied healthcare professionals (AHP) in India is nearly 6.5 million as against a supply of less than 300,000. According to the National Skill Development Corporation, by 2018, the healthcare technician demand-supply gap in India will be 445,000 (84 per cent shortfall).
“The partnership will leverage on the leadership that Tata Trusts have in the areas of skilling and livelihood and GE Healthcare’s expertise in designing and running technical courses in healthcare. What makes this initiative even more special is the opportunity it provides to transform individuals and families by providing livelihood opportunities to students, particularly women. This aligns with our commitment to bring more women leaders in the healthcare space through our #WomenInGlobalHealth initiative,” Terri Bresenham, President & CEO, Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare said.
Globally, GE Healthcare has committed $1 billion in healthcare education over the next four years to train more than 2 million professionals in the healthcare technology space. In India, the GE Healthcare Education Institute runs its healthcare skill building and skill enhancement programme – “Yogya Bharat for an Aarogya Bharat” which aims to improve access to quality healthcare throughout the country by developing skilled healthcare resources.
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