AIIMS Guwahati: A New Healthcare Milestone In The Northeast

By: Dipak Kurmi

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, also known as AIIMS, is India’s premier medical research and treatment facility. First health minister of India Rajkumari Amrit Kaur came up with the idea and introduced a bill to the Lok Sabha in 1956. She had the idea after reading a 1946 report on a national health survey that had confirmed the need for such an institution. She stated in her passionate and forward-thinking speech in the Lok Sabha that she had long wished for the establishment of such an institution that could uphold the high standards of medical education and post-graduate training so that young Indian doctors could complete their post-graduate studies in their own country. She even contributed a portion of her ancestral estates to the effort in order to support the creation of the first AIIMS in New Delhi, the nation’s capital. With time, AIIMS New Delhi cemented its place as the apex of the Indian healthcare system by providing aid to millions of those in need and training up-and-coming doctors to the highest standards. The fact that AIIMS was the first hospital in Asia to prohibit its doctors from working in private practice so they could devote their time to advancing the crucial cause envisioned by Rajkumari Kaur is significant.

However, there has been a significant change in India’s health care system since before independence. Despite a twofold increase in life expectancy, a large number of people continue to experience malnutrition and high rates of infant and maternal mortality. It is estimated that poor access to healthcare and inadequate care delivery cause about a million Indians to die each year. Furthermore, according to statistics, 78 percent of all medical costs in India are covered out of pocket by patients, adding to the cost of healthcare in the nation. In order to provide all citizens with top-notch tertiary-level medical care at a fair price, it was urgently necessary to upgrade India’s infrastructure. This goal drove the development of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), which was conceived in 2003 and launched in 2006. One of PMSSY’s goals has been to assist with the national establishment of new AIIMS. These new AIIMS created through PMSSY are now able to function independently under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare after being recognized as institutes of national importance by the Indian government under the AIIMS Act.

Other major objectives of these new AIIMS include conducting research on medical and health issues specific to particular geographic areas and providing the highest caliber undergraduate and graduate instruction in all important healthcare-related activities. This is in addition to offering the general public advanced tertiary healthcare. As part of the PMSSY initiative’s various phases, 22 new AIIMS have already been planned or constructed. They were the first AIIMS to be established as part of Phase-I of PMSSY, and six of them—located in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur, and Rishikesh—are currently fully operational. The remaining new AIIMS are scattered across the country and are in varying stages of development and operation.

The cornerstone for the AIIMS Guwahati was laid on May 26, 2017, by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A total earmarked budget of 1,123 crore rupees was approved for AIIMS Guwahati’s construction on May 24, 2017, as part of PMSSY Phase-V. It is a 750-bed elite, state-of-the-art healthcare facility that offers specialist and superspecialist care, education, and a medical college for MBBS students. A number of paramedical specialities are also in the process of being developed and introduced. Dr. Chitra Sarkar, a former pathology professor and dean of research at AIIMS New Delhi, was appointed as the institution’s first president. The first Executive Director of AIIMS Guwahati was chosen to lead the organization and appointed on July 10, 2022. Prof (Col) Ashok Kumar Puranik is a renowned trauma care surgeon with years of experience in the Indian Armed Forces. He previously served as the AIIMS Jodhpur’s surgical department head.

On January 12, 2021, the institute started its academic journey with 50 MBBS students living on a temporary campus on Guwahati’s Narakasur Hill. The departments of community and family medicine were included, as well as those of anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. The designated campus in the rural districts of Silbharal, Changsari, and Kamrup has been the center of the institute’s operations since March 2022. For various other specialization and superspecialization departments, faculty recruitment took place between April and June 2022; as of the time of writing, there are more than 80 faculty members on staff. The third and most recent batch of MBBS students enrolled a total of 100 individuals in November 2022.

Currently, telemedicine and temporary OPD services are provided by the departments of general medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, oncology, and other specialities. From September 2022 onwards, in the AYUSH building of the institute the trauma and emergency services building, the outpatient department (OPD), and the residence halls at the medical and nursing colleges are all in use. Under the competent direction of Executive Director Dr. Puranik and his administrative staff, the institute is steadily advancing toward its objective of providing the local population with top-notch healthcare services.

On March 23, 2023, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that Prime Minister Modi would dedicate the prestigious institute to the people of Assam from its premises on April 14, 2023, as he reviewed infrastructure development. This information should please the people of Assam and North East India, who need to have access to first-rate tertiary healthcare in all specialities.

As the adage goes, “Rome was not built in a day,” it will take some time for AIIMS Guwahati to match the high standards of AIIMS New Delhi or any other prestigious Indian medical institution. It’s crucial to comprehend the extensive infrastructure, logistics, and workforce training required to raise the institute to the top. However, with public support and capable leadership, AIIMS Guwahati will quickly become the best healthcare delivery, education, and research institution in North East India and Southeast Asia. (The author is a Guwahati-based journalist and commentator who can be reached at dipaknewslive@gmail.com)