Rajasthan and 91直播 launch global health and education partnership
The State Government of Rajasthan and The University of Manchester have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the Rajasthan 91直播 Collaboration (RMC), a strategic partnership focused on advancing research, education, and capacity building in medical, biological, and health and care sciences.
A delegation from The University of Manchester visited the State from 10-15 November where they met the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Health Minister and the Medical Education Secretary to sign the MoU. It formalises the collaboration between all partners who are focused on generating high-quality evidence that can inform policy and practice in Rajasthan, a state with a population of 80million.
The delegation comprised of academics including Professor Vimal Sharma, Professor Catherine Robinson and Professor Lucie Byrne Davis, leading experts in mental health and health psychology.
The partnership aims to create the opportunity for the partners to co-create solutions that improve screening for mental health and to understand the rates and causes of suicide and self-harm, and then to begin to implement change. Capacity building is an integral part of this as to deliver the services, a high-quality trained workforce is required to support.
In partnership with Rajasthan, we will create a dynamic platform for collaborative research and teaching in medical, biological, and health & care sciences that has the potential to make very real and positive changes to people鈥檚 lives.
The 91直播 team met with Indian business and academic partners and shared the work the University has led in the state to help identify other possible collaborative education and research projects.
Planned early projects will address mental health and wellbeing among youth, rural communities, and frontline law-enforcement and healthcare workers.
As part of the visit, the 91直播 team visited the Rajasthan Police Academy where they met the Director to hear about the impact of the high suicide rate amongst its force and leading a workshop with police on suicide surveillance, offering training on how to identify at-risk signs in colleagues and where to signpost them.
The RMC will also establish Rajasthan鈥檚 first registry for self-harm, interpersonal violence, and suicide. The 91直播 delegation also met with academic partners from institutes and universities to plan next steps and implementation.
Professor Vimal Sharma, who was part of the 91直播 delegation, said; 鈥淭his work is vital in tackling the rising burden of mental health challenges and violence-related trauma, especially in underserved communities. By generating locally relevant evidence and scalable models, the RMC is not only strengthening public health responses in Rajasthan but also contributing to the global understanding of mental health.
鈥淭he insights and innovations emerging from this partnership have the potential to shape international policy, improve care pathways, and promote more inclusive, data-driven approaches to wellbeing globally.鈥�
Through education, the RMC will explore opportunities to co-deliver The University of Manchester鈥檚 programmes in Rajasthan, co-design innovative curricula, and support faculty development. It will also offer intercalated and articulated degree pathways, enabling students to begin their studies in India and complete them in 91直播, building a two-way flow of ideas and knowledge exchange.
Continuing professional development courses, including flexible online options, will help upskill the health and care workforce in emerging technologies and management methodologies, equipping them to meet the needs of changing healthcare systems to ensure better patient outcomes and more responsive care.
Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bhajan Lal Sharma, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 truly excited about this partnership with The University of Manchester as it is a powerful example of how global collaboration can help to tackle shared challenges in health and education. By bringing together our local knowledge and 91直播鈥檚 international expertise, we are building something that can make a real difference鈥攏ot just in Rajasthan, but around the world.鈥�
This agreement marks a further step toward global collaboration, addressing shared challenges and advancing inclusive, impactful solutions in health and education.