The Department of Health Research of the Union Health Ministry will set up a Model Rural Health Research Unit at Sohra in East Khasi Hills.
The State Health Department has already invited tender for construction of the Model Rural Health Research Unit at a cost of Rs 2.07 crore. A site near the Sohra Community Health Centre has been selected for construction of the health research unit.
The health research unit at Sohra will be operated by the Indian Council for Medical Research – Regional Medical Research Centre, Dibrugarh.
Sources said that the Model Rural Health Research Unit will be set up near the Sohra Community Health Centre so that the unit could work in close coordination with the State health providers and national level research institutions in developing models for transfer of technologies in rural settings.
The Model Rural Health Research Unit will be linked to the nearest ICMR institute (Indian Council for Medical Research – Regional Medical Research Centre, Dibrugarh) to mentor and guide the research activities of the unit relevant to local needs.
These research activities would be monitored and guided by a committee consisting of eminent scientists with representation from the State health services and other State health officials, constituted with the approval of the Department of Health Research.
It may be mentioned that several Model Rural Health Research Units have been set up in the country. The objectives of the scheme are to create infrastructure at the periphery for transfer of technology to the rural level for improving the quality of health services to rural population, to ensure an interface between the new technology developers (Researchers in the medical institutions; State or Centre) health systems operators (Centre or State health services) and the beneficiaries (communities in rural areas), and ensure the much needed geographical spread of health research infrastructure in the country.
