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Agreement signed between WHO and the Norwegian
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs towards the Norway India Partnership Initiative
H.E.Mr Jon Westborg,
Ambassador and Plenipotentiary, Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi and
Dr Jay Wenger, Project Director, National
Polio Surveillance Project
An Exchange of Letters of Agreement between the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and WHO was signed on 13 December 2006 at New
Delhi towards the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI). Dr Jay Wenger, Project Director, National
Polio Surveillance Project, signed the agreement on behalf of Dr. S. J.
Habayeb, WHO Representative to India, in the presence of teams
from WHO, UNICEF, Government of India, the Norwegian Ambassador and other
officials from the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
NIPI 2006 – 2011 was launched earlier this year by the
Government of India and the Royal Norwegian Government to accelerate
attainment of MDG 4 goals to reduce the infant
mortality rate especially in poor performing states in the country. The aim of the partnership is to
facilitate rapid scale-up of quality child related health programmes through
the Government of India’s National Rural Health Mission. This initiative will also endeavour to use
the experience from India as a model for best practices, which could be
applied elsewhere in the world.
WHO activities under the NIPI initiative have been planned
to provide technical assistance and support to accelerate critical
interventions for decreasing infant mortality by
 increasing coverage to childhood immunizations
strengthening measles control activities and
surveillance for vaccine preventable diseases
introduction of pre-service IMNCI training in medical and
nursing schools
acceleraing maternal health interventions
towards child survival
These activities have been designed to be catalytic to the
planned interventions under the National Rural Health Mission and link with, and build upon, WHO’s
ongoing collaborative programmes with MOHFW. The activities were developed
thorugh a consultative process. Wherever possible, public private
partnerships would be encouraged for implementation of the project.
Strengthening Measles Control activities and surveillance
for Vaccine Preventable Diseases have been emphasized in the Initiative. The
existing NPSP structure will be used for implementation of surveillance
components.
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