Prime Minister lays the foundation stone of National Centre for Ageing at AIIMS

New Delhi, June 29, 2018 : The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the National Centre for Ageing at AIIMS, here today. The Prime Minister also dedicated the underground connecting tunnel between AIIMS and JNPA Trauma Centre, and Power Grid Vishram Sadan at AIIMS along with the 500 bedded New Emergency Block and 807 bedded Super Specialty Block at the Safdarjung Hospital to the nation.

Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Smt Anupriya Patel, Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare were also present at the event.

Addressing the participants, the Prime Minister said that our government has been successful in taking healthcare out of the ambit of the Health Ministry and today we have Rural Development Ministry, Water and Sanitation Ministry, Women and Child Development Ministry and Ayush Ministry with our vision of healthcare. The Prime Minister further added that our vision is not limited to hospitals, diseases, medicines and super specialty care but also with the idea that affordable and equitable healthcare should be ensured for every citizen. He further said that the Government is equipping existing hospitals with the all the modern facilities and at the same time it is also making sure that the healthcare facilities reach to the remotest areas of the countries. He added that 58 district hospitals are being upgraded to medical colleges and the government has also sanctioned budgets for 24 new medical colleges.

The Prime Minister said that the global target for eliminating TB is 2030, but we have set 2025 as our target for India to eliminate TB, five years before the global target. He further stated that the Government is providing Rs 500 to the TB patients towards nutritional support. Citing the examples of Mission Indradhanush and Swachh Bharat, the Prime Minister said that immunization and sanitation coverage has increased drastically in the last four years.

The Prime Minister also mentioned about the Ayushman Bharat programme. He said that under the National Health Protection Mission, 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be provided a coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme, he stated.

Speaking at the function, Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, said that the vision, leadership and unwavering support of the Prime Minister have always been a source of great inspiration. Shri Nadda further stated that it is the Prime Minister who has brought health at the centre-stage and has driven us to take ambitious tasks upon ourselves. The Health Minister said that there has been a visible change in the tertiary healthcare in the country and assured that the Government is committed to ensuring that the new AIIMS will meet the same standards of service as AIIMS, New Delhi. No effort will be spared to make them the very best, he added. He said that that the new AIIMS will have the same work culture and the government is taking all the steps to ensure that. He further stated that the Ministry in the past 4 years has not left any stone unturned – from monitoring the clean and effective implementation of national programmes to establishing 13 new AIIMS like institutes across the country.

Reiterating the commitment of the Government, Shri Nadda further said under Ayushman Bharat, 150,000 sub-centres will be converted into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) that will deliver comprehensive primary health care. “The H&WC would provide preventive, promotive, and curative care for non-communicable diseases, dental, mental, geriatric care, palliative care, etc. He further stated that the Government has initiated universal screening of common NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and common cancers along with Tuberculosis and Leprosy and everybody above the age of 30 years will be screened for these diseases and as such this will eventually help in reducing the disease burden of the country. “We will implement the vision of the Prime Minister in letter and spirit,” he added.

The National Centre for Ageing will provide state of art clinical care to the elderly population and shall play a key role in guiding research in the field of geriatric medicine and related specialties. The Centre will also be a key training facility for under graduate and post graduate courses. The Centre will provide multi-specialty health care and will have 200 general ward beds, which will include 20 medical ICU beds. The centre will be developed at a cost of Rs 330 crores and shall be completed by February, 2020.

The underground tunnel is providing connecting facility between AIIMS and JPNA Trauma Centre and will reduce the commute time between the two centers. The completed length connectivity between two centers is approximately 1 km and has been completed at a cost of Rs 44 crores.

The Powergrid Vishram Sadan has a 300 bedded night shelter facility meant for the patients and their relatives visiting AIIMS main hospital and JPNA Trauma centre at AIIMS. The 11 floor facility has been constructed at a cost of Rs 32.67 crores and funded by the Power Grid Corporation.

New emergency Block at Safdarjung Hospital will house 64 triage beds, red zone for children and adults and 90 ICU beds for victims of road traffic accidents, acute trauma suffered by individuals at home or work, acute poisoning and severe medical and surgical emergencies. The Block has been developed at a cost of Rs 346 crores.

Super Specialty Block at Safdarjung Hospital holds tertiary care facilities in the areas of cardiovascular sciences, neurosciences, pulmonary medicine, nephrology and endocrinology and shall be offering the facility of a heart Command Centre, respiratory care facility, sleep labs, 24×7 dialysis unit, MRI guided Braine Suite, etc. It also has a 228-bedded private ward. The super specialty block has been developed at a cost of Rs 920 crores.

Also present at the event were Smt. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (Health), Prof. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS New Delhi, Dr. Rajendra Sharma, Medical Superintendent, VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi and Shri I S Jha, CMD, Powergrid Corporation along with the senior officers from the Health Ministry and faculty of AIIMS.