The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : On AIIMS

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Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

On AIIMS

This is in response to the article “What ails All-India Institute of Medical Sciences” (Feb. 24). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s re-do coronary bypass surgery was performed by a unified team of doctors from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai. The head of Cardiac Surgery at AIIMS organised and guided the surgery, while Dr. Ramakant Panda was the chief operating surgeon. It was a triumph of team spirit in which many Indians joined hands to provide essential healthcare to the Prime Minister. Any controversies related to this are unnecessary and unproductive. The choice of Dr. Panda as the chief operating surgeon was in recognition of his specific expertise in this particular area of surgery. It does not in any way detract from the surgical expertise of the AIIMS surgeons.

Having been a part of the AIIMS family since 1974, I am fully aware of the undoubted talent and extraordinary commitment that the faculty members of AIIMS bring to their professional work. The choice of an outside surgeon, who happens to be a former student of AIIMS, to perform the surgery only indicated that AIIMS was open to the idea of assembling the best available team for the Prime Minister’s surgery.

Yes, AIIMS could do better. It would indeed be able to attain greater heights if its autonomy is protected and its faculty incentivised through a fair system of compensation and provided adequate infrastructural support. The Cardiothoracic Centre of AIIMS has already been stretched beyond its limits. What is needed is a National Heart Centre, established at AIIMS and affiliated to it but having the level of autonomy needed to enable its unfettered growth. This centre can truly grow into a multi-disciplinary centre of excellence which can perform the most sophisticated surgery as well as provide community-based preventive services. When such a centre comes up at AIIMS, both types of VIPs (Very Important Persons and Very Impoverished Persons) can benefit from its expertise.

Dr. K. Srinath Reddy,

President, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi

* * *

The world over, medical specialists share their expertise with premier healthcare institutions. The irregularities in the AIIMS the article refers to are serious and call for rectification.

But the presence of an expert from another organisation during the Prime Minister’s surgery does not in any way shadow the reputation of AIIMS.

M.G. Warrier,

Thiruvananthapuram

* * *

There is scope for improvement in the judiciary, the media, the polity, education and AIIMS but that is another issue. While doctors are familiar with the issue of varying opinions and approaches to solve a medical question, raising a spectre of lack of skills and distrust in the best institute does little good in the broader interest of society.

S.S. Kothari,

New Delhi

* * *

The article’s comments on the expertise or the lack of it at AIIMS apply to all public-funded medical institutions in the country. Though Dr. Singh’s decision to undergo surgery in the AIIMS is praiseworthy, it cannot inspire confidence in other public hospitals. If an institution like AIIMS does not have an expert to perform a surgery on the Prime Minister, how can people have confidence in it and other government hospitals?

N.N. Raju,

Visakhapatnam

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