Tata Trusts and GE Healthcare has announced a partnership to train 10,000 youth in various technical areas of healthcare over a three-year period. The partnership will focus on bridging the skills gap in healthcare technical or operating staff. The announcement was made in the presence of Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, Terri Bresenham, President & CEO, Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare and Banmali Agrawala, President and CEO, GE South Asia.

GE Healthcare Education Institute (GE HCI) will design, develop and execute these courses through a mix of both classroom training and interactive training exercises. The courses will help people graduate as X-ray, Radiography, Medical equipment, Anesthesia, Operation Theatre and Cardiac Care technicians, as well as Diabetic Education counsellors. The candidates will also undergo continuous assessment and internships during the course of this program. The successful candidates, upon clearing the Healthcare Sector Skills Council (HSSC) exam shall be granted a certification from HSSC.

In the next three years, 10,000 candidates will receive loan scholarships from Tata Trusts upon qualifying for the course. GE will also fund certain candidates on the basis of their eligibility.

It is estimated that the current requirement for allied healthcare professionals (AHP) in India is nearly 6.5 million as against a supply of less than 300,000. As per National Skill Development Corporation, by 2018 the healthcare technician demand-supply gap in India will be 445,000 (84% shortfall).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. R, Venkataramanan, Managing Trustee, Tata Trusts said, "At Tata Trusts, making a sustainable difference to lives is the core essence of philanthropy. Tata Trusts aim to drive improvement in healthcare delivery by enabling availability of skilled and motivated healthcare personnel. We believe that this partnership with GE Healthcare will allow many bright young minds, especially women, to come forward and bridge this gap."

Training and capacity building forms an integral part of Tata Trusts' interventions, given that skilled human resources within the health sector are extremely crucial and in limited supply in India.

To develop and strengthen human resources, with a focus on improving the capacities and skills of organisations, Tata Trusts has enabled the setting up of virtual classrooms at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across rural India, thus empowering the remotest areas with a robust technology platform to equip, educate and train their youth.

Tata Trusts' Skills and Entrepreneurship Development initiatives focus on skilling and entrepreneurship development of youth through interventions across the spectrum. The initiatives focus majorly on underprivileged youth such as school dropouts and women, with a view to skill, re-skill, and upskill them. Over the next five years, Tata Trusts will look to train 500,000 youth and promote 5,000 micro and small enterprises.

Sharing her perspective, Ms. Terri Bresenham, President & CEO, Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare said "We are truly privileged to have the Tata Trusts as our partner for this initiative. The partnership will leverage on the leadership that Tata Trusts have in the areas of skilling and livelihood and GE Healthcare's expertise in designing and running technical courses in Healthcare. What makes this initiative even more special is the opportunity it provides to transform individuals and families by providing livelihood opportunities to the students, particularly women. This aligns with our commitment to bring more women leaders in the healthcare space through our #WomenInGlobalHealth initiative."

Globally, GE Healthcare has committed USD 1 billion in healthcare education over the next four years to train more than 2 million professionals in the healthcare technology space. In India, GE Healthcare Education Institute runs its healthcare skill building and skill enhancement program - "Yogya Bharat for an Aarogya Bharat" which aims to improve access to quality healthcare throughout the country by developing skilled healthcare resources. GE HCI provides accredited skill building courses for 12th standard pass students and skill enhancement programs for existing healthcare professionals. Over 5500 people have been trained till date. The Institute today has 10 centers across India and delivers 39 different courses through six skilling partners.

In order to enhance reach of its programs, GEHCI recently started offering these courses online through its portal: https://hci.gehealthcare.com