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PGI must create a model to achieve health for all: Dr Harsh Vardhan
Union minister of health and family welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated multiple facilities at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on Saturday
Union minister of health and family welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated multiple facilities at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on Saturday.
The minister inaugurated the National Resource Centre for oral healthcare of children and the elderly (OHSC), advanced positron emission tomography (PET) scan and computed tomography (CT) facility, advanced vascular interventional lab, 384 slice dual source CT scan and refractive surgery suite (SMILE) facilities in different departments.
Speaking on the occasion, Vardhan said PGIMER is one of the premier medical Institutes of India, providing specialised medical services to all five northern states of the country. He congratulated medical professionals and the scientific community for rising to the challenge and diligently fighting against the coronavirus and also bringing out a vaccine in such a short time.
“PGI should create a successful model to enable the world to move towards health for all. It should also mentor other institutions. PGI should develop a new journey, new vision for the scientific community,” he said.
On the OHSC, he said the sole purpose of this resource centre was to provide a model of oral health care delivery to children and the elderly in Chandigarh and thereafter support the National Oral Health Programme (NOHP) in replicating this model across the nation. The OHSC at PGIMER will be instrumental in substantially reducing the oral disease burden of the country.
On World Oral Health Day, the minister said the government of India had envisaged the NOHP under the umbrella of the National Health Mission to provide affordable, accessible and equitable oral healthcare delivery in a well-coordinated manner to provide ‘optimal oral health’ for all. “The national oral health policy has been drafted under NOHP and is expected to roll out soon,” he said.
Vardhan said the newly installed state-of-the-art robotic arm-assisted PET/CT guided intervention device at the advanced PET-CT facility provides real-time 3D visualisation of lesions for biopsies; less needle manipulations, repeat punctures and repeat scans during complex procedures.
On the advanced vascular intervention lab, the minister said the cath lab in PGIMER was the first of its kind with hi-tech artificial intelligence software, transforming the management of stroke patients.
