By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: The Department of Cardiology, NEIGRIHMS has become a life saver for many. Dr Animesh Mishra and his colleague Dr Manish Kapoor have between them raised the bar for cardiac care in the region.
Patients from across the Northeast and neighbouring Bangladesh have made NEIGRIHMS their port of call for health care requirements but particularly for cardiac care, informed Dinesh Sawkmie, Deputy Director of the Institute on Friday while speaking at the inaugural function of the 6th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Cardiology and the first in the Northeast.
Sawkmie asserted that NEIGRIHMS is the first health institute to offer super-speciality services in cardiac care in Meghalaya and the region. He underlined that NEIGRIHMS is not set up only for curative purposes but primarily for research. Its aim is to train manpower to meet the shortfall in specialists and super specialists in the region.
President, Indian Society of Cardiology (ISC), Dr RK Gokhroo lauded Dr Animesh Mishra, the organising secretary of the event, and his team for hosting the first-ever cardiology conference in the region, referring to Shillong as the “Scotland of the East.” Dr Gokhroo said the ISC aims at creating honorary physicians in basic cardiac care since cardiologists cannot be available at every place.
President of the Scientific Committee Dr SK Kaushik heaped praises on NEIGRIHMS stating that it is the only government institute with world class facility. The inaugural function was held at the plush auditorium of the Institute which seats an audience of 800.
Speaking as chief guest at the Conference, Assembly Speaker Charles Pyngrope expressed concern at the growing number of people in the younger age group who are afflicted by heart ailments.
“Whereas in the west mortality on account of cardiac ailment stands reduced by 50%, in India the mortality rate is expected to go up by 100% by 2050,” Pyngrope said, adding that the problem is self-inflicted through deliberate misdeeds.
Calling for a national policy to save the hearts of youth, Pyngrope said while India has been able to reduce mortality on account of communicable diseases it has not shown a similar feat in cardiac care.
“We must have a national policy to wean youth away from smoking, alcohol, stress and food styles and in this the ISC has a primordial responsibility to penetrate all tiers of population irrespective of their economic status,” the Speaker said.
Pyngrope emphasized that philanthropists among industrialists and other sectors should adopt villages and that laws should be suitably amended so that contributions to hospitals and other health care institutions should be exempted from taxation.
“We need to create special health zones along the lines of special economic zones so that health becomes less expensive for the poor,” the Speaker said. He called for a paradigm shift in heart care and asking the cardiologists to put their heads, hands and hearts together in saving people through cardiac care.
Earlier, former Chief Minister DD Lapang released a special souvenir to commemorate the occasion.
About 200 delegates are attending the conference scheduled for October 14-16 with special sessions being held over satellite television.