M. Srinivas, director of AIIMS, shared the institute’s vision of expanding the base of Janaushadhi centers and how the institute is working with underprivileged patients by integrating with PM-JAY. “The new AIIMS would soon attain international standards and share the patient load of AIIMS New Delhi. These institutes would also excel in academics and research.”
All the panelists shared their thoughts at the 1st Sushruta Awards, organised by ITV Network. Hear Professor Dr. N.K. Arora, President, AIIMS, Deoghar Jharkhand, says AIIMS is to be considered the center of philosophy as a new approach towards clinical care, teaching, and research. It is creating an ecosystem where the best from these three areas has come out, and that is what AIIMS New Delhi is doing. He added that the ecosystem in each of the AIIMS is such that it provides an independent thought process that encourages clinical care, teaching, and doing research for national interests. In this whole country, many medical experts have emerged, but most of them have come out of AIIMS, and this is why the purpose of these new AIIMS is to give the best to the medical fraternity. Also, the new AIIMS will provide regional growth for the country, as different regions have different problems to cater to. AIIMS is also contributing to how to develop the model of care, as we cannot provide care to everyone, but we can provide models of care that the rest of the medical colleges will follow. So one can’t see the new AIIMS as a new building, but it is the center of philosophy and creating an ecosystem.
He added that AIMS Deoghar, which is kind of a baby AIMS, is coming up. So, a national centre of excellence for tribal health has come up. Now, here, a very systematic study of tribal medicine is being done.
We have our traditional knowledge of Ayurveda, Siddha, and Yunani. So, students, post-graduates, as well as the faculty, are encouraged to see how, for many of the disorders, the two systems can be brought together, either in tandem or as complementary to each other, so that the best is available for our patients. So, we at AIMS are there to produce the evidence and make it scientific. To produce it in front of the whole world, these are not just Jari Bhuti but scientifically proven medical elements.
Dr. Ajay Singh, executive director of AIMS Bhopal, said that all the new AIIMS that are being made are autonomous. All are to complete the regional imbalance and address it. So, no one should be equated. No one should be copied; this is my basic philosophy. He added, “One thing that we should address is the local need, the regional need for which patients must go to Delhi; that should be reduced now. So for that, we have to recognise our regional resources and our problems, and we have to create evidence of that. Only then will we be able to move forward? Otherwise, if all the people do the same kind of work, then somewhere I feel that we will be left behind.” He further said one concept, which I feel is to be made by the Government of India, one state, and one health policy to make one such SOP.
Dr. Ashok Puranik, Executive Director of AIMS Guwahati, said, I can tell you with my experience that setting up a new institute like AIIMS takes almost 10 years to establish a well-functioning, well-anointed. My institute is just eight months old. It was inaugurated by the honorable Prime Minister on April 14, last year. And since the day it started, it’s been getting a huge number of patients. He added that to build a new AIIMS, the intention was to provide a kind of super-specialist care in the research. The original model was set up in Delhi years ago. He further said, “I must say that it was the conviction of our Prime Minister that he saw the original imbalances and that he thought that the North East shouldn’t be left alone. And now we see the reason, and soon people who used to go to Mumbai, Calcutta, and Delhi for treatment will get the treatment at their doorstep. That’s a big achievement that is going to happen very soon.