ESIC Medical College has received permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct randomised controlled trials to assess the safety and efficacy of the convalescent plasma for treatment of COVID-19. The college, which received best medical college hospital and best super speciality hospital awards from the ESI Corporation recently, will be the second one after Gandhi Hospital to take up the trials.
“We have got the necessary infrastructure ready for taking up the treatment and have also confabulated with the Gandhi Hospital health authorities. We are ready to take this up whenever we are required to do so. The ICMR has permitted 10 patients each to be given this treatment,” said ESIC College dean M. Srinivas.
The college has also set up the first-of-its-kind mobile virology diagnostic and research laboratory in collaborating with the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) too.
These details were provided to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan by Dr. Srinivas when she visited the campus at Erragadda early in the day. She was told that the institute is also actively involved in research and development of indigenous and innovative techniques to fight the novel coronavirus by collaborating with institutes like IITs, TIFR, NIPER, UoH, etc. They are also supporting the Telangana government by providing isolation wards, COVID-19 OPD, ICUs and ICMR-approved virus testing laboratories.
Ms. Soundararajan felicitated doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, house-keeping staff and security personnel for their contribution, calling them ‘COVID warriors’.
The Governor had a special word of praise for DRDO director-general (Missiles and Strategic Systems) M.S.R. Prasad and acknowledged efforts made by their scientists in providing indigenous, innovative and cost-effective equipment being tested here at the medical college.
