Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the Northeast, AIIMS Guwahati, to the nation on Friday. The new super-specialty hospital will provide healthcare services to people not only in Assam but also in other northeastern states. The AIIMS Guwahati has been built at a cost of Rs 1,123 crore and will have an annual intake capacity of 100 MBBS students every year and a capacity of 750 beds, including 30 AYUSH beds. Modi tweeted, “AIIMS Guwahati and other initiatives being launched today from Assam will augment healthcare capacities in the entire Northeast.”
Glimpses from the visit to AIIMS Guwahati, a game changer project when it comes to healthcare in Assam and the Northeast. pic.twitter.com/1ssAvy7W44
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 14, 2023
Modi also inaugurated three medical colleges located in Nalbari, Nagaon, and Kokrajhar through virtual means. These medical colleges are equipped with 500-bed tertiary care teaching hospitals that have 24 undergraduate departments. The three medical colleges will initially intake 100 annual MBBS students, taking the total MBBS student intake to 1500 in Assam.
Distribution of Ayushman cards by PM Modi to beneficiaries
The Prime Minister also launched the distribution of 1.1 crore Ayushman cards to beneficiaries, which will enable them to receive cashless medical treatment benefits up to Rs five lakh.
Foundation of Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII)
Moreover, Modi also laid the foundation for the Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII), which is a joint initiative of the state government and IIT Guwahati, worth Rs 546 crore. The AAHII aims to foster innovative healthcare solutions and will comprise three major verticals — an R&D Block, a 500-bed super-specialty hospital, and a post-graduate medical college. The R&D block will initially start with six centres of excellence for cutting-edge research in stem cell, digital health, therapeutics, precision medicine, robotics and affordable diagnostics. The super-specialty hospital will provide advanced robotic surgery, comprehensive transplant surgery, gene therapy, precision medicine, complex trauma care, cutting-edge neonatology, neurosurgery, and complex cardiac procedures.
The institute will invite participation from corporates, business houses, research institutions, and philanthropic organisations to collaborate on healthcare research and innovations. The AAHII will be a nationally and internationally connected hospital cum research hub, thus enabling skill and knowledge transfer to the peripheral hospitals empowering them for better patient management through enhanced skills. It will possess a simulation lab integrated with augmented and virtual reality facilities to uplift the skills of the doctors, nurses and other health workers. Through integrated and seamless functioning between these elements, AAHII will provide the foundation for evidence-based healthcare delivery to the state as well as to the country.
On a separate note, ahead of Modi’s day-long visit to Assam, a poster of ‘Washing Powder Nirma’ featuring morphed images of the Nirma girl with faces of BJP leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma, Narayan Rane, Suvendu Adhikari, Sujana Chowdhary, Eshwarappa among others who joined the saffron party after switching loyalty was spotted near Guwahati’s Rajiv Bhawan, which is the Assam Congress headquarters. The poster had “Welcome PM Modi to Assam” written on it.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed PM Modi at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport. After the prime minister’s arrival, Sarma wrote on Twitter, “I heartily welcome Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji to Assam to celebrate Bihu.”
The establishment of the AIIMS Guwahati and other medical facilities, as well as the launch of the Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute, are expected to significantly boost the healthcare infrastructure and services in the northeastern region of India.
