Landscaping capacity-building initiatives in epidemiology in India: bridging the demand–supply gap

India, the second most populous country in the world, has 17% of the world’spopulation but its total share of global disease burden is 21%. With epidemiologicaltransition, the challenge of the public health system is to deal with a high burden ofnoncommunicable diseases, while still continuing the battle against communicablediseases. To combat this progression, public health capacity-building initiativesfor the health workforce are necessary to develop essential skills in epidemiologyand competencies in other related fields of public health. This study is an effortto systematically explore the training programmes in epidemiology in India andto understand the demand–supply dynamics of epidemiologists in the country. Asystematic, predefined approach, with three parallel strategies, was used to collectand assemble the data regarding epidemiology training in India and assess thedemand–supply of epidemiologists in the country. The programmes offering trainingin epidemiology included degree and diploma courses offered by departments ofpreventive and social medicine/community medicine in medical colleges and 19long-term academic programmes in epidemiology, with an estimated annual outputof 1172 per year. The demand analysis for epidemiologists estimated that there isneed for at least 3289 epidemiologists to cater for the demand of various institutionsin the country. There is a wide gap in demand–supply of epidemiologists in thecountry and an urgent need for further strengthening of epidemiology training inIndia. More capacity-building and training initiatives in epidemiology are thereforeurgently required to promote research and address the public health challengesconfronting the country

Demand–supply gaps in human resources to combat vector-borne disease in India: capacity-building measures in medical entomology

Vector-borne diseases account for a significant proportion of the global burden ofinfectious disease. They are one of the greatest contributors to human mortalityand morbidity in tropical settings, including India. The World Health Organizationdeclared vector-borne diseases as theme for the year 2014, and thus called forrenewed commitment to their prevention and control. Human resources are criticalto support public health systems, and medical entomologists play a crucial role inpublic health efforts to combat vector-borne diseases. This paper aims to reviewthe capacity-building initiatives in medical entomology in India, to understandthe demand and supply of medical entomologists, and to give future directionfor the initiation of need-based training in the country. A systematic, predefinedapproach, with three parallel strategies, was used to collect and assemble the dataregarding medical entomology training in India and assess the demand-supplygap in medical entomologists in the country. The findings suggest that, consideringthe high burden of vector-borne diseases in the country and the growing need ofhealth manpower specialized in medical entomology, the availability of specializedtraining in medical entomology is insufficient in terms of number and intakecapacity. The demand analysis of medical entomologists in India suggests a widegap in demand and supply, which needs to be addressed to cater for the burden ofvector-borne diseases in the country