Thursday, May 15, 2008

Union minister opens new Paying Ward at RIMS; 50 seats to be increased for MBBS; many upgrades promised

By : A Staff Reporter

IMPHAL, May 14: "I don't believe the underground will disturb the development of health care centres," said Union minister for health and family welfare Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday while promising to bring up the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, RIMS to be one of the best among the health care centres in the country.

The Union minister while giving his speech at the inauguration of the Paying Ward of the RIMS today also announced free of cost treatment facilities for the people living below poverty line, BPL and other poor people under the initiative of his ministry.

Dr. Ramadoss laid the foundation stones of a new OPD block, dental college and nursing college of RIMS with a sanctioned amount of Rs. 129 crores.

He said that in the next two years, people of the state would witness RIMS as one of the best health care centres of the country.

The announcements he made include increase in the intake of MBBS course students from the current enrolment strength of 100 to 150 for the next academic session, coming up of a 100 bedded cancer treatment centre within three to four months, resumption of CT Scan service which remain defunct due to non-functioning machines and nursing institute etc.

Immediate sanction of Rs. 19 crores for immediate relief from the water shortage problems faced by the institute was also announced by the minister.

While promising developmental package works of the institute, the Union minister said that he didn't believe that while taking up all this work the underground elements would cause any disturbance.

Dr. Anbumani in his speech promised to develop and upgrade the RIMS and make it one of the best institutes of the country.

Despite having many super-specialists in the institute and manpower, there was lack of infrastructure compared with other health centres of the country, he said.

He also observed that just constructing new buildings without any specialists would be of no use while also stating that there were many qualified faculties presently in the institute.

He thanked all the doctors, nurses and staffs of the institute for their commitment and passion shown in their duties.

Talking on the health condition of the people of the state, he explored the need for the state government to take up certain measures to control consumption of tobacco and alcohol by the people of the state, while stating that the north east people were the highest consumers of tobacco and alcohol in the country.

Therefore, the state government should look into the matter seriously and take steps to fight tobacco and alcohol intake, he insisted.

The Union minister along with the state chief minister O Ibobi, state health minister Ph Parijat and officials of the RIMS inspected the condition of RIMS and later attended a function which was held at the Jubilee Hall of RIMS.

The function was attended by Anita Das, secretary of AYUSH, Dr. RK Shrivastava, DGHS, G.C Chakraboty, mission director, NRHM and additional secretary and BK Prasad, joint secretary (NE), all from the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

Earlier, the RIMS director Dr. L Fimate in his welcome address highlighted the status and aspirations of the institute and drew the attention of the Union minister for support in attaining excellence in all aspects of health care in the north eastern region.

"RIMS being conveniently situated on the route of the Trans Asian Highway, under the government's Look East Policy, could be quite appropriately developed as a centre of excellence for making it a hub of health tourism," he said.

He maintained that the north eastern region of India was one of the most complex regions in the country in terms of its diverse culture, language, ethnicity, accessibility and underdeveloped infrastructure. The states in the region lacked adequate financial resources to invest in the public health sector, he said.

Despite the various constraints in the region, the RIMS had been endeavoring to contribute richly in the field of health care in the region by way of imparting medical education, both undergraduate and post graduate courses, in all important branches of medical specialties, he said.

Talking on the features of the institute, he said the institute had produced more than 2000 doctors and more than 500 specialists in the north eastern region.

Sprawling over an area of 3000 acres of land, the institute and its hospital normally provides services to more than 2.5 lakh outdoor patients and admits over 30,000 patients in a year. There are 17 clinical departments including six super-specialty units managing all types of disease conditions with support from pre and para-clinical departments. The regional cancer centre of Manipur is also established at the institute, he said adding that it had been managing to fulfill the statutory norms of the Medical Council of India.

The state chief minister O Ibobi Singh, who presided over the function, said that the RIMS was the only medical institute which had been producing qualified doctors and faculties in the entire north eastern region.

He also appealed to the Central government to upgrade and provide sufficient facilities, empowerment for RIMS and also improvements in the power and water system of the institute.

The state health and family welfare minister, Ph Parijat said that since the RIMS had been taken over by the Centre various improvements had been witnessed. However, he drew the Centre’s attention towards the improvement of buildings and equipment suited with the times.

Source: http://ifp.co.in/FullStory.asp?NewsID=2295

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