18-Jan-2021: Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicates the new Burns and Plastic Surgery Block of AIIMS Delhi to Sushruta, “The Father of Plastic Surgery”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today inaugurated the newly constructed Burns and Plastic Surgery Block of AIIMS, New Delhi and dedicated it to Sushruta, ‘The Father of Plastic Surgery’.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan shared his vision of need for a Burns and Plastic Surgery Block. He said, “Burn injury is one of the biggest causes of workforce loss and this is an issue of concern for a rapidly developing economy like India. India has as many as 70 lakh burn injuries annually with mortality rate as high as 1.4 lakhs per year and an additional 2.4 lakhs patients end up with severe deformities. Due to its large population, most of the burn care facilities are overburdened and the state-of-the-art burn care is negligible. There is a dire need for a healthcare facility which can provide high quality care for large fraction of population. The new Burns & Plastic Surgery Block has been conceived with the vision of providing state-of-the-art care in the field of burns management and research.” Dr Harsh Vardhan added that this initiative by the Government will bridge the gap between this need and availability. He explained the objective behind setting up Burns and Plastic Surgery Block. “Burns & Plastic Surgery Block has three goals. The first is to reduce the number of deaths due to burns; a present death toll of 1.4lakhs a year due to burn is not a happy situation.” The most important determinant of death in burn patients is infection. This facility has individual cubicles in ICU for 30 patients and 10 private isolation beds to prevent any cross infection. Second, by adhering to standard protocols the Institution will be able to reduce the number of people who will end up with deformities. Third is to bring down the costs; management of burns involve direct and indirect costs. Direct cost comprises what is spent on medical care, and indirect loss is the economic impact due to loss of job, loss of wages, loss of productivity and loss of training etc.”

He further added, “This Block is equipped to deal with approximately 15,000 burn emergencies and 5000 burn admissions a year. It can deal with mass casualties efficiently by converting the patient receiving area itself into an emergency ward as per need. Integration of the block with the trauma center will provide easy assistance to trauma team in no time. These definite steps will help in decreasing deaths in burn patients and also reducing the deformities in survivors.”

Speaking on Sushruta and India being the birthplace of reconstructive nose surgeries, Dr. Harsh Vardhan noted, “This Center has been conceived with the vision of incorporating our ancient wound management skills as well. It will be equipped with most recent advances in medicine including AYUSH medications that are available for burns wound management. In addition, the facility will also train necessary staff and personnel. It will be equipped with the most advanced wound management techniques and equipments such as VAC and hyperbaric oxygen chambers.”

The Union Health Minister also visited the facilities in the block along with other dignitaries.

31-Dec-2020: PM lays Foundation Stone of AIIMS at Rajkot

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of AIIMS Rajkot through a video conference today. Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Governor Gujarat Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister remembered the efforts of the millions Doctors, Health Workers, Scavengers and other Frontline corona warriors who have constantly put their lives at stake to protect humanity. He lauded the efforts of the scientists and to all those who provided food to the poor in this difficult period with full dedication.

The Prime Minister remarked that this year showed that when India unites it can effectively cope up with the most difficult crisis. He said India is in a much better position as a result of the effective steps and India's record of saving victims of Corona has been much better than other countries. He said in India, every necessary preparation about the vaccine is going on. He said that efforts are in the final stages for making the vaccine made in India, rapidly reaching every nook and corner. He said India's preparation is in full swing, to run the World’s largest Immunization Campaign. He called to move forward together to make vaccination successful just the way last year we tried to prevent infection.

Shri Modi said AIIMS Rajkot will boost health infrastructure, medical education and provide employment opportunities in Gujarat. He said about 5 thousand direct jobs and many indirect jobs would be created. Lauding the efforts of Gujarat in fighting COVID, the Prime Minister said Gujarat has shown the path in fighting COVID. He credited the robust medical infrastructure in Gujarat, for Gujarat’s better handling of Corona Challenge. He said two decades of relentless effort, dedication and resolve is behind this success of Gujarat in the medical sector.

The Prime Minister said even after so many decades after independence in the country only 6 AIIMS were established. During Atal ji's government in 2003, steps were taken to establish 6 more AIIMS. He added that in the last 6 years, work on 10 new AIIMS were started and many have been inaugurated. He said along with AIIMS, 20 Super Specialty Hospitals are also being constructed.

The Prime Minister emphasized that before 2014, different aspects of our health sector were working towards different directions and approaches. He said after 2014, the health sector has worked holistically and emphasis was on preventive care, while also giving priority to modern treatment facilities. He said that the Government reduced the cost of treating the poor and at the same time, also emphasized on increasing the number of doctors rapidly.

The Prime Minister said under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the work to establish about 1.5 million Health and Wellness Center in remote areas were done and among those about 50000 centers have already started functioning. About 5 thousand among those are in Gujarat alone. He said about 7000 Jan Aushadhi Center provided medicines at low cost to about 3.5 lakh poor patients. He listed the initiatives of the Government for improving the health of the people.

The Prime Minister said if 2020 was the year of health challenges, 2021 is going to become the year of health solutions. The world will move towards health solutions with better awareness. The Prime Minister stressed, India will play a major role in the health solutions as it played in the meeting the challenges of 2020. He said India’s contribution for the health solutions of 2021 will be critical for the scaling of the solutions. Given the competence of Indian medical professionals and service motivation, along with expertise like mass immunization experience India will provide smart and affordable solutions to the world. Health startups are integrating  health solutions and technology and making health care accessible.  “ India is going to play an important role in both the future of health and health of the future” Shri Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that as the diseases are becoming globalised, it is time for coordinated global response for global health solutions.  India has done this as a global player. India proved its mettle by adapting, evolving and expanding as per demand. India moved with the world and did value addition in the collective efforts. India is emerging as the nerve centre of global health, in 2021 we need to further strengthen this role of India, the Prime Minister added.

24-May-2017: Cabinet approves setting up of new AIIMS in Kamrup, Assam

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for establishment of new AIIMS at Kamrup (North Guwahati Revenue circle). The cost of the project is Rs.1123 crore and it will be set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).

The new AIIMS will be completed in a period of 48 months from the zero date (that is the date of the approval of Government of India), broadly comprising a pre-construction phase of 15 months, a construction phase of 30 months and stabilization / commissioning phase of three months.

The Institution will consist of a hospital with a capacity of 750 beds, trauma center facilities, medical college with an intake of 100 MBBS students per year, nursing college with an intake of 60 B.Sc. (Nursing) students per year, residential complexes and allied facilities / services, broadly on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi. The hospital will have 22 Specialty/Super-Specialty Departments including 16 Operation Theaters. It will also have an AYUSH department with 30 beds for providing treatment facilities in traditional system of medicine.

The establishment of new AIIMS will serve the dual purpose of providing super speciality health care to the population while also help create a large pool of doctors and other health workers in this region that can be available for primary and secondary level institutions / facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM).

Under this scheme, AIIMS have been established in Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Raipur, Jodhpur, Rishikesh and Patna while work of AIIMS Rae Bareli is in progress. Also, three AIIMS in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Kalyani (West Bengal) and Mangalagiri in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) have been sanctioned in 2015 and two AIIMS have been sanctioned at Bathinda and Gorakhpur in 2016.