Odisha CM announces establishment of health university to improve medical education

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced the establishment of a health university in the state on the occasion of the 107th birth anniversary of legendary politician Biju Patnaik.

All the medical and allied health science colleges and institutions will stand affiliated to the Odisha University of Health Sciences from the 2023-24 academic session, a notification issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department said.

The announcement comes on the birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik, who served as Odisha chief minister twice. He was also a Union minister. His son Naveen Patnaik founded the Biju Janata Dal following Biju Patnaik's death in 1997 and has been the Odisha chief minister since 2000.

All colleges offering undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in health sciences, including modern medicine, ayurveda, homoeopathy, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy, will now come under the ambit of the university from the 2023-24 academic session, an official said.

The Odisha government had earlier decided to set up the health university to streamline the medical education system as many such institutions have been coming up in the state, he said.

The Odisha University of Health Sciences Act was passed in the assembly in October 2021 and notified by the government on August 14, 2022. The establishment of the health university will “enhance the quality of medical education, patient care and research in the state," the official added.