Contribution of Healthcare-related Professional Associations to Public Health in India

History of healthcare-related professional associations in India dates to pre-independence era.¹ Presently, professional associations of doctors and allied health professionals are many in India, but their contribution to public health has never been explored in published literature. These professional bodies are mostly non-governmental organizations of experts from the related field who contribute to the development of the specialty by discussing science with an endeavor to improving medical practice in that field. With multiple specialties and sub-specialties, there is an increase in the number of such organizations both globally and in India. Such professional bodies or the associations of health professionals can contribute immensely to the improvement of public health in India if they are attuned to the imminent problems faced by the country’s population. There are multiple challenges facing the public health system of the country wherein the achievements are few and the goals and targets as under the Millennium Development Goals or the present Sustainable Development Goals are many and hard to reach.^2,3 Read more. . .