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Union Health Ministry brings in new competency-based curricula for 10 allied and healthcare professions

Union Health Ministry brings in new competency-based curricula for 10 allied and healthcare professions

The Hindu23-04-2025
The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday (April 23, 2025) launched new competency-based curricula for 10 allied healthcare professions in collaboration with the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP).
The curricula will cover a broad spectrum of professions, such as Physiotherapy; Applied Psychology and Behavioural Health; Optometry; Nutrition and Dietetics; Dialysis Therapy Technology and Dialysis Therapy; Radiotherapy Technology; Medical Radiology and Imaging Technology; Anaesthesia and Operation Theatre Technology; Health Information Management; and Physician Associates.
Aimed at bringing uniformity to training of allied healthcare professionals across the country, the new curricula is designed to produce globally competent professionals to address the increasing prevalence of diseases and the growing demand for allied services.
'India is skilling its healthcare professionals not just for India, but for the international market,'' said the Union Health Ministry.
Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said that the comprehensive revision and standardisation of the curricula represent a pivotal step toward establishing consistency in educational content and delivery.
'India is skilling its healthcare professionals not just for India, but for the globe. The curricula launched today will set a benchmark for the quality of healthcare professionals across various faculties. These professions play a crucial role in preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative healthcare. This initiative is expected to significantly enhance the effectiveness of skill-based training, better align educational outcomes with industry needs, and promote greater career mobility and professional recognition for allied health professionals nationwide,' she said.
The Ministry maintained that the success of these curricula depends not only on their design and content but also on the strength of the systems that support their rollout, including adequate institutional preparedness, faculty training, infrastructure development, and continuous monitoring to uphold quality standards.
'Digital modules of the curriculum will be crowdsourced to make them available to all for their capacity building so that the vision of Swastha Bharat [Healthy Bharat] can be promoted,'' the Health Secretary added.
The Ministry has also emphasised the critical importance of establishing robust regulatory mechanisms and investing in capacity building to ensure the effective implementation of the newly developed curricula.
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