Changsari (Assam), Aug 23 : Within two years of its opening, the lone All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in North East at Changsari in Assam’s Kamrup district is gearing to emerge as the medical hub for not just bordering states but also neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, its newly-appointed president said on Saturday.
He said existing facilities in the Institute are being strengthened, while plans are afoot for introducing services very specific to this centre, he added.
Taking to PTI after assuming charge on Friday, Dr BKS Sanjay said, “The first need is to strengthen the existing services and then, we will start other services as well for the whole of North East.”
There are a few initiatives that the authorities have in their minds, but those cannot be disclosed right now, he said.
He said that AIIMS Guwahati will be developed into a facility where people from not only neighbouring areas but also distant places will come for medical treatment.
“We are first catering to the people of the nearby states and then neighbouring countries,” Sanjay said.
The AIIMS-Guwahati president, who is a distinguished orthopaedic surgeon, said certain services will be very specific to this centre only, mooting the idea of specialised correctional surgeries for physical deformities.
The institute, located about 25 km from the main city at Changsari, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14, 2023.
It has 41 departments at the moment, with 367 in patient department beds functional and registers daily footfall of about 2,000 in the out patient department.
The MBBS course, PG course and BSc Nursing courses are currently offered by the institute.
Sanjay, awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 for his medical services, said institutes such as the AIIMS-Guwahati are fulfilling the previous gap in providing free and quality healthcare for all.
“Food grains are being provided to all. Free education was being ensured. Healthcare was the only aspect left in the past, and it is being taken care of now,” he said, underlining the need for quality healthcare, free of cost for a ‘viskit (developed) Bharat’.
Asked about the campus of the AIIMS-Guwahati in other parts of North East, Sanjay expressed his reservation and pointed to various problems, like recruitment, providing accommodation, educational facilities to families of faculties, etc.
He maintained that the focus should be on grooming the present AIIMS-Guwahati into an institute of excellence.
On the Institute’s focus on cancer care, as the state has a high prevalence of the disease, he stressed that prevention is the best cure.
“People should be mindful of symptoms such as recurring pain, lumps, upset stomach, coughing blood, etc. AIIMS-Guwahati has the best diagnostics facilities and qualified doctors, and people should consult immediately in case of any symptoms,” he said.
“I can say from experience that if a (malignant) tumour is taken out at the initial stage, the chance of recurrence is less, it doesn’t spread easily and the person’s life span increases,” he added.
Drug abuse is another major concern in the state and region, and AIIMS-Guwahati is especially equipped to address it, Sanjay said.
AIIMS-Guwahati executive director Dr Ashok Puranik, sharing details on the de-addiction facility, said it is supported by a team of psychiatrists and psycho-therapists, running research programmes, and also has collaboration with National Institute of Medical Science and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore.
He said an in-house facility for de-addiction is available and eligible patients are covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, through which they can avail free treatment.
Puranik said major concerns are tobacco chewing, alcohol intake, and mixed drug use, being the most common form of drug abuse in the state.
“We run awareness campaigns also, and people have benefited from it,” the executive director added. (PTI)
