Scaling Up Training Program for Informal Healthcare Providers in West Bengal, India

Informal providers in the private sector with little or no formal medical training represent majority of India’s rural primary healthcare workforce. Given their strong community ties and presence where few alternatives exist, one potential solution to abate harm to the population they serve and improve their quality of care is to provide them with training. Experimental evidence from a RCT of a generalized medical training program found substantial improvements in both knowledge and practice among trained informal health providers. The results from this evaluation have informed the decision of the Government of West Bengal (GoWB) for a state-wide scale-up of the intervention. J-PAL SA will work closely with the GoWB in developing a robust monitoring system for the scale-up and support with process documentation for the first year of the planned scale-up. For more on the scale-up plans, see this news article from October 2016.