Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan was conferred with the Professor K.V. Thiruvengadam Award 2020 instituted by Rotary Club of Madras East and Kauvery Hospital. After receiving the award, he said, “We see the same spirit of Dr. K.V. Thiruvengadam through numerous doctors and healthcare workers who have been quietly and relentlessly working during this crisis. In the challenging times we have been living in, it is humbling to receive the award.”
He noted that Tamil Nadu was perhaps one of the first States that scaled up testing massively and starting with 10 beds, the State now has 1.42 lakh beds for COVID-19. “Isolation, testing and treating is the way to handle this pandemic. And the real heroes helping us do this are the nameless doctors and healthcare professionals across the State,” he said.
Devi Shetty, chairman and executive director of Narayana Health, said, it is rare to find a humble government officer like Mr. Radhakrishnan. “One of the main reasons I admire him is because of his ability to increase the number of seats in medical colleges for under graduation and post graduation courses during his tenure as health secretary,” he added.
P. Umanath, Director of Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation, K. T. S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, S. Gurunathan, Director of Medical and Rural Health Services, R. Narayanababu, Director of Medical Education and K. Senthilraj, Managing Director of National Health Mission were also honoured.
