laying the foundation stone of the Regional Medical Research Centre at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the centre would play a pivotal role in eradicating dreaded disease like encephalitis as identification of virus and bacteria would now be very easy.
“The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) will be developed on the lines of National Institute of Virology, Pune and it will help in early detection of bacterial or virus of the diseases killing children in eastern Uttar Pradesh,” the Chief Minister told reporters after laying the foundation stone of the RMRC in Gorakhpur on Sunday.
The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of Combined Rehabilitation Centre (CRC) which would help in rehabilitation of children who survive encephalitis attack.
“Both the projects have the blessing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Central government has released Rs 104 crore for setting up the CRC in Gorakhpur district, where children who survive encephalitis attack are ridden to bed,” the Chief Minister said.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Union Social Welfare Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot were also present when the foundation stone of both the centres were laid.
Yogi said the state had seen a drastic fall in cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) this year because of the concerted efforts of the government.
The government figures suggest that from January 1 to August 28 this year, 319 encephalitis cases were reported in the BRD Medical College hospital and 63 deaths took place, compared to 640 cases and 154 deaths during the same period last year.
The report says that 1,427 AES and JE cases were reported from January 1 to August 9, 2018 in the state with 111 deaths.
Over 5,400 cases of AES and JE were reported in the state in 2017, leading to 748 deaths, compared to 4,353 such cases and 715 deaths in 2016, the Health Ministry claims.
The Chief Minister said that the government had also launched the Dastak campaign against Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in collaboration with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
“Encephalitis affects children up to the age of 15 years. Our commitment is to protect them from this deadly disease so that these children too play an active role in nation-building,” Yogi said.
As many as 38 districts of the northern states are affected by this deadly disease.
The Chief Minister said that the Union government was helping the UP government at every step.
“The Union government has approved eight super speciality centres in six medical colleges of the state. For this the Union government has given Rs 120 crore each to the medical colleges,” he said.
“Between 1947 and 2014, Uttar Pradesh had 13 medical colleges but between 2014 and 2018, the state got 13 new medical colleges. Five of these were approved last year and eight were approved this year. These medical colleges will come up at the divisional headquarters,” the Chief Minister said.
