661-P: Medical Officers (MOs) Training in Diabetes Management by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)—A Role Model to Improve Primary Health Care in Chronic Conditions

Objective: To describe the unique training model of PHFI for training MOs in diabetes and associated comorbidities through state Government collaborations. Intervention: In PHFI, the training division has been building capacities of physicians to upgrade their knowledge and skills in chronic conditions since 2010. These training initiatives are currently running at 533 centers in 27 States and UTs covering more than 101 cities and have trained 16878 PCPs across the country in diabetes, gestational diabetes, cardio diabetes and diabetic retinopathy programs. An analysis revealed that 30% of the trainees were from Government sector. An innovative collaborative model between PHFI, academic partners and various State Governments was established. MoU was signed with state governments, training of trainers was conducted and MOs were nominated from sub district health facilities. MOs were trained using evidence-based curriculum which included national guidelines. Curriculum was developed by the academic partners and reviewed by national experts. PHFI assured training quality by a robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism. Result: Initially 2 State governments (Kerala, Kolkata Municipal Corporation) have partnered with PHFI for training their MOs, and every year 2-3 new State Governments have been adopting these diabetes initiatives for increasing knowledge and skills of their physicians. As a result, partnership with 10 States have trained 1156 MOs. State Governments have designated these trained MOs as NCD nodal officers and posted them at Primary health centers. End line evaluation has found increased confidence among MOs in managing diabetes in the primary health setup and decrease in referrals. Conclusion: Collaboration with governments built capacities of MOs and strengthened primary care in the country. The success of this model in Indian setting implies its use in other LMICs.