NEIGRIHMS better than AIIMS

Courtesy: Shillong Times

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Dr Ambumani Ramadoss has said the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) of Shillong is better than Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The Minister said this while addressing Editors' conference here on Wednesday.


Dr Ramadoss, however, admitted that the institute was facing a serious faculty problem as specialist doctors were unwilling to go there. "The government is trying to provide extra incentives to the doctors to serve in the region," he said. He, however, ruled out the possibility of opening of another AIIMS-like institute in Northeastern region.


The Union Minister said besides malaria, tuberculosis, cancer and HIV have taken heavy toll in Meghalaya and other Northeastern states, adding "the state governments have failed to tackle the menace of vector-borne diseases".


"The rise in cases of malaria and failure of the government to control the same is largely due to the change in climate, remoteness and inaccessibility of the affected areas," he said. "At the same time the Union Health Ministry is giving attention to the N-E region," Dr Ramadoss said adding that one Joint Secretary, who visits the North-Eeast every month, had been appointed to look after the region.