Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Armed Forces hospitals to be modernised

Staff Reporter

Vice-Admiral V.K. Singh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The modernisation of the Armed Forces hospitals, being carried out to keep pace with latest technology and to provide better treatment, would be completed by July, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) Director General Surgeon Vice-Admiral V. K. Singh.

Addressing a press conference at the Pangode Military Hospital on Thursday, the AFMS Director General said 60 per cent of the Armed Forces hospitals had modernised and the remaining 40 per cent would be completed within six months. Under AFMS, there were seven ultra-modern hospitals, 700 small hospitals and 200 field hospitals now.

The AFMS had succeeded in containing HIV in the Armed Forces to 0.028 per cent compared to the 0.9 per cent among the civilian population of the country. "Getting infected by HIV is not a crime, but hiding it by the Armed Forces personnel is a crime. We are trying to bring the rate further down from 0.028 per cent ," he said.

The Vice-Admiral said mandatory HIV screening for Armed Forces personnel had already been cleared by the three Service Chiefs and would be implemented once the Union Defence Minister gave the final clearance for the proposal.

He said HIV patients in the Armed Forces were being provided anti-retroviral therapy free of cost and they were allowed to remain in service. Only full-blown AIDS patients were sent out of service and given free treatment. Surveillance had been stepped up as it had been found that Meghalaya and North Eastern States were AIDS-prone areas. Stating that a College for Paramedics is to be set up at Lucknow soon, he said all paramedical staff of AFMS would get diplomas in a year. University of Lucknow had agreed to give diploma to paramedics of Armed services.

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