New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Monday virtually inaugurated the Super Speciality Block (SSB) at Motilal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj, dedicating it as a COVID Hospital (DCH) to the nation.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set in motion his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of reducing regional imbalance in medical care, he said Vajpayee’s Independence Day Address of 2003 was a guiding beacon for the Government’s commitment to end regional imbalance.

‘The number of AIIMS has been increased from six to 22, while another 75 existing institutions are envisioned to be upgraded, to provide AIIMS-like service,’ the Union Minister added.

He also digitally inaugurated the first high throughput COBAS 6800 machine in Uttar Pradesh, installed by the ICMR, to pursue its regionally-balanced COVID Testing strategy.

The 220-bedded Super Speciality Block is being built with an investment of Rs 150 crore under the Pradhan

Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). It has departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Nephrology, Urology, Plastic surgery, Endocrinology, Surgical Oncology, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery.

There will be seven Operation Theatres, 233 Super Specialty Beds, 52 ICU Beds and 13 dialysis beds in the SSB, which will have a training capacity of 24 PG students.

Launching the COBAS 6800 high throughput machine, Dr Vardhan said, ‘The COBAS 6800, a fully automated,

high end machine for performing real time PCR testing for COVID-19, will provide quality, high-volume testing with a high throughput of around 1200 samples in 24 hours.

‘COBAS 6800 can also detect other pathogens like Viral Hepatitis B & C, HIV, MTb (both Rifampicin and Isoniazide resistance), Papilloma, Cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, and Neiserreia. It can be operated remotely with limited human intervention,” he added.

He expressed satisfaction with the progress of the work of PMSSY in Uttar Pradesh. ‘UP and Bihar were allotted two new AIIMS to tide over regional imbalance. Both the AIIMS in UP are in advanced stages of completion with OPD services and undergraduate classes in operation in AIIMS Rae Bareili.”

SSBs/Trauma Centres in SGPGIMS-Lucknow, Institute of Medical Sciences-BHU-Varanasi, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College-AMU-Aligarh, Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College- Jhansi, BRD Medical College- Gorakhpur, LLRM Medical College- Meerut have been completed under different phases of PMSSY, while facilities in Government Medical College-Agra, Government Medical College-Kanpur, RIO at Institute of Medical Sciences-BHU-Varanasi are nearing completion, added Dr Vardhan.

He said that 13 new Medical Colleges are planned in the state, which will take the total number of medical colleges constructed in the state in the past two-and-a-half years to 27.

These medical colleges will be set up in the districts of Bijnor, Gonda, Lalitpur, Chandauli, Bulandshahr, Pilibhit, Kaushambi, Amethi, Kanpur Dehat, Sultanpur, Lakhimpur, Auraiya and Sonebhadra, an official statement here said.

The Chief Minister thanked the Centre for its proactive role in strengthening the health infrastructure in

Uttar Pradesh through PMSSY.

Speaking on the timely importance of the new SSB built under the scheme that has been converted into a COVID Hospital, he said people of adjoining districts like Kaushambi, Chitrakoot, Banda, Pratapgarh and Mirzapur will also be greatly benefitted.

He informed that at the onset of the pandemic, 26 districts did not have a single ventilator, but with the help

of the Union Government, the COVID medical infrastructure in the state has been turned around, which now has 1.75 lakh dedicated beds, daily tests ranging from 1.5-2 lakh and at least one Level-I and Level-II COVID

Care facility in every district.

Suresh Kumar Khanna, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Medical Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, hosted the event. Jai Pratap Singh, Minister of Medical and Health, Family Welfare, Mother and Child Welfare and Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Member of Lok Sabha from Prayagraj, were present at the event.