INDIA – The Novo Nordisk Foundation has launched the Partnership for Education of health Professionals (PEP) to support the education of health professionals in India and East Africa.
Through the PEP project valued at DKK 1bn (US$140M), Novo Nordisk Foundation will finance the education of health professionals in underserved regions in India and East Africa.
The Foundation’s PEP is a partnership based on two intervention areas, with consideration to local health needs, partner priorities, and alignment with government investments.
“The first area is institutional capacity building for the education of health professionals and the second is educational research and implementation research on health professionals serving people in vulnerable positions,” the Foundation said in a press release.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation will also promote gender equality by empowering women to flourish in their profession as health professionals and researchers.
On his part, Professor Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, said: “Our vision for PEP is that people living in vulnerable positions in rural India and East Africa should have equitable access to high-quality prevention and care for cardiometabolic diseases.”
PEP will be developed and implemented with multiple partners across multiple geographical locations across India and East Africa and the initiative will run until 2023.
These local partners will include health authorities, universities, and educational institutions.
Through PEP, the Novo Nordisk Foundation will partner with local partners to support the education of health professionals.
Health professionals and researchers play a crucial role in improving the prevention and care of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
In India, the need is especially urgent in the North-eastern Region, where access to quality health care is under particular pressure.
The country will use the fresh funds from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to improve access to qualified health personnel and to reduce the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.
The PEP vision and mission are fully aligned with the Indian Government’s prioritisation of investing in human resources capacity building in healthcare in order to be on par with global top standards.
In his address, Atul Kotwal, Professor and Executive Director, National Health Systems Resource Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, said: “Educating more and better-qualified health professionals is a top priority for the Ministry of Health in India.”
He disclosed that the Indian government is preparing for a stronger response to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.
“Evidence shows that building capacity among the nurses, the largest cadre of healthcare providers, vastly improves the quality and acceptability of healthcare services,” stated Prof. Kotwal.
He expressed his optimism that the Partnership for Education of health Professionals project has the potential to improve health outcomes for people in the Indian region if scaled properly.
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