Governor stresses on efforts to take medical facilities to remotest villages

Governor of Tamil Nadu Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday said research should be directed and technology harnessed to take medical facilities to the people living in the remotest villages of the country

Taking part in the inauguration of “NAMSCON 2026”, the 66th annual conference and convocation of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) hosted by SRM Medical College and Research Centre and SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), Chennai, he elaborated on how medical facilities can be taken to the reach of needy people in villages and remote places and how dependency on medicines can be reduced.

Efforts such as work happening in laboratories and research should be directed towards them, he said. Noting that India is set to become a developed country by 2047, he told the medical professionals gathered at the conference that they have enough time to deliberate on how this can be done. Use all technology to take medical facilities to them, he added.

Abhijat Sheth, chairman, National Medical Commission, said, “medicine, what we are practising today was not medicine of yesterday. Today, medicine has become more imaging and laboratory dependent, while yesterday it was purely bedside manners and tomorrow, medicine is going to be more precision-based and personalised.” Everything will change in a few decades and everyone should keep themselves prepared for change, he added.

P. Sathyanarayanan, pro-chancellor (Academics), SRMIST, stressed the need to bring together hospitals, which face challenges, universities, which have solutions, and industries, which know how to take them to those who need them, ensuring last mile connectivity.

Digambar Behera, president, NAMS, noted that Continuing Medical Education (CME) is at the heart of what the academy does, and this year, it has supported 57 CME programmes across the country. Among the challenges being faced are antimicrobial resistance, which is threatening to undo decades of progress, air pollution, increase in lifestyle diseases and an ageing population. Artificial Intelligence and new technology is changing diagnosis, treating and learning of medical science, he said, adding that the academy has launched new courses including One Health and air pollution.

T.R. Paarivendhar, founder-chancellor, SRMIST, and Shekar C. Mande, president of INSA, spoke on the occasion.

R. Jayanthi, dean, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre and organising chairperson, said the event was a comprehensive scientific programme on contemporary topics in medical education, practice and research. The four-day event, which is centered on the theme “Synergy of Science and Technology in Healthcare for a Healthier Tomorrow”, has over 1,000 participants, a press release said.