The Maternal and Child Health Community provided a communicable platform for the Chhattisgarh government that was eliciting feedback on its Integrated Health and Population Policy.

The Chhattisgarh government drafted an Integrated Health and Population Policy in 2006 and requested members of the Maternal and Child Health Community to elicit feedback. The government was also keen to learn from experiences in other states and from the larger community of practitioners, policy makers and researchers.

The feedback included a adding a detailed activity and resource plan, with time schedules, along with suggestions regarding the state government sharing infrastructure and responsibilities with Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) and local self-governing institutions, to enable them to play a leading role in planning and implementing health programs through the decentralization approach. The comments also included stress on the importance of ensuring easy access to PHCs (with doctors) in every village, along with provision for health financing, meeting the health needs of disabled individuals, incorporating the AYUSH into the state’s healthcare services and lack of human resources in the state’s health system. The draft is now being finalized by the government.