Medical research on locally prevalent ailments and disorders in Tirupati is in for a shot in the arm, with the proposal to establish a Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU) in the region taking shape.
The state-of-the-art facility has been sanctioned to Sri Venkateswara Medical College (SVMC) by the Department of Health Research, functioning under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Coming up in 55 cents of land in the Rural Health Centre campus at Chandragiri, the ambitious facility will be developed at a cost of Rs.2 crore and Rs.1 crore for the equipment. SVMC is one of the two colleges in the entire country to bag the prestigious project, the other being the Government Medical College, Calicut (Kerala).
Maternal mortality, drug abuse, scrub typhus, anaemia, dengue and coronary heart diseases are the preliminary thrust areas identified for research at this premier centre. Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has been roped in as the mentoring agency to nurture this nascent institute.
“The facility will not only inculcate a spirit of research among the medical fraternity, but also offer quality medical services to the people”, SVMC Principal M.S. Sridhar told The Hindu .
The centre will constantly monitor the prevailing health problems and ensure timely dispensation of healthcare services to the affected communities.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) will very soon ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for the purpose.
It may be recalled here that the SVMC had already bagged a ‘Multi-Disciplinary Research Unit’ in 2013, with extensive focus on non-communicable diseases.
