Meghalaya’s new health minister Ampareen Lyngdoh sets 100 days challenge

Meghalaya’s newly appointed health and family welfare minister Ampareen Lyngdoh has her task cut out already. Within barely a week of taking over her new portfolio as the health minister of the state, Ampareen, a veteran politician of the state, has set a 100 days challenge to fix certain aspects of the health delivery system in the state.

“We have placed before ourselves a 100-day challenge where we will be addressing certain aspects of provision of health care for the people of the state of Meghalaya. So we hope, that would give us enough challenge and gear the system of the state so that we have definitive results at the end of this 100 days.” the health minister said after holding the first review meeting of the department.

The minister was briefed by the Health Department officials on the progress made in the implementation of various health programmes and initiatives.

The officials highlighted the key achievements of the department in the past years, including the inclusion of coverage for outpatient departments (OPD) under the Megha Health Insurance Scheme, the launch of the Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project, Meghalaya Medical Drugs and Services, Meghalaya Medical Services Recruitment Board, Rescue Mission, and Digitization and Technology in health.

The Health Department officials also informed the Minister about the challenges faced by the department, such as the shortage of healthcare professionals, providing quality healthcare to hard-to-reach areas, and the rising burden of non-communicable diseases due to several risk factors such as smoking, substance abuse, and others.

Ampareen Lyngdoh, 4-time MLA from East Shillong was sworn in for a third time as a Cabinet Minister on March 8 and she was given the portfolio of Health and Family Welfare along with Law, Information and Public Relations and Agriculture Farmers’ Welfare departments on March 9, 2023.

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