RIHFW Kashmir
Regional Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Kashmir
The Regional Institute of Health and Family Welfare (RIHFW), Dhobiwan, was established under the India Population Project VII (IPP) with assistance from the World Bank. The Institute is meant to serve as the apex institution for training of in-service doctors and paramedicals and of volunteers from various non-profit, non-governmental, organizations involved in health activities.
The institute is located at Dhobiwan (literally, the washer-man’s forest), north of Srinagar banking the road leading to the world famous resort of Gulmarg situated a mere 25 km away. The place is easily accessible from Srinagar by regular bus service by all- weather roads, and is surrounded by green forests and snow-clad mountains on all sides.
The Institute has four beautifully constructed buildings spread over more than 20 kanals of land dotted with greenery and well-laid out lawns. The administrative complex has a spacious auditorium, conference hall, lecture halls and role-playing labs. The conference hall has the facility of 2 way audio-conferencing system, and other halls have been provided with suitable public address systems. An array of modern audiovisual facilities including VCD projectors, slide projectors, overhead projectors, electronic panaboards and LCD projectors are available to help the trainers during training sessions.
The computer centre, a resourceful library, Studies and Surveys Section, Disease Surveillance Section, Publications Section and IEC (Public Health Education) Section, have been set up to facilitate effective training, surveillance, research and publication work. These backbones of the institute are continually being augmented by new additions and replacements.
The main hostel, designed to accommodate the participants, has 30 double- occupancy rooms with dining halls and recreation rooms. Three separate, well-furnished, hostels have been set up for the guest faculty (national, international), two of which are for full family occupancy. All have separate kitchens to suit the families, which don’t like taking food prepared elsewhere.
Except for some unfinished construction work, the institute has all facilities for formal as well as informal interaction of trainers and trainees.
The institute was taken over in September 1999, and it was just within a fortnight that the first National level orientation course was undertaken in collaboration with the Rehabilitation Council of India, New Delhi. However, the institute formally started functioning from March 2000.
Currently the Institute is performing the following major activities:
- Training of in-service doctors and paramedics
- Orientation courses for participants from NGO's and other charitable institutions.
- Shouldering the training/ orientation/ reorientation component of various national projects and programmes.
- Disease surveillance activities under the National Disease Surveillance Programme of the Government of India.
- Studies and surveys across the JandK State
- Publication of technical and professional material for the medical profession
- Health Education Activities by way of workshops and seminars in schools and colleges, and publication of health notes for the laity.