AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria asserts capacity-building ahead of 3rd COVID wave scare

Amid the speedy development in the vaccination pace across the country and the globe, the fear of another deadly COVID-19 outbreak still hovers over our heads.

Acknowledging the bleak chances of India countering another massive COVID outbreak, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Dr Randeep Guleria, on Saturday, emphasised on boosting preparations to counter any future outbreak. He informed that along with government officials, he has been working to provide training to healthcare workers and increase capacity-building to deal with a third wave, if at all. He further added that Delhi's AIIMS has again topped as the No.1 medical college in the country.

AIIMS Chief pushes capacity-building ahead of third-wave scare

Speaking on the Foundation Day of the AII India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS Director Dr Guleria iterated that he along with the concerned team are training and working on capacity-building so as to be prepared in case the country sees a third wave.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar were present at the event. While addressing the event, the Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, “AIIMS is the 'lighthouse' of the health sector. People have faith in it, which is why state-wise demands were also raised.” He further announced that the country is setting up even more institutes under the name of AIIMS,'' adding, “Today inauguration work of 22 AIIMS is underway.”

The Union Health Minister also said that the change in the healthcare system is due to the Prime Minister’s continued efforts to provide people with affordable solutions during a health crisis. He said, “It was not a tradition in the country to combine health and development, but PM Modi did it with his vision of Healthy India.” 

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya further said that the health budget has been significantly increased. “We increased the health budget to Rs 2.40 lakh crores,” he stated.

COVID-19 Situation in India

As India still struggles to fight the deadly COVID-19 virus, it reported 29,616 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday with 28,046 recoveries and 290 deaths in the past 24 hours. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the active cases account for <1% of the total infections. Currently, there are 3,02,722 active cases in the country.

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