|
The Union ministry of health and family welfare has included the Assam Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh as a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for rare diseases under the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD), 2021.
The Ministry has issued an office memorandum announcing the inclusion, stating that the institute will be a premier government tertiary hospital with facilities for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of rare diseases.
The responsibilities and activities of the institute will be in accordance with the provisions of the NPRD, 2021 and instructions or guidelines issued by the Ministry. The inclusion has come into effect from August 26, when the office memorandum has been issued.
Assam Medical College & Hospital, established in November, 1947, is one of the premier and oldest medical institutes of the North Eastern region of India. According to the medical college, since inception, it has produced more than 7536 medical graduates, and average daily attendance of patients in the outpatient department in the medial college is around 1,800.
The policy covers 63 disorders which are categorized as rare diseases and the government offers financial assistance up to Rs. 50 lakhs per patient is provided for treatment of rare diseases through 13 Centers of Excellence (CoEs) identified under NPRD, 2021.
The CoEs so far included by the Ministry include All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, Jodhpur, and Bhopal, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting & Diagnostics with Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, King Edward Medical Hospital, Mumbai, Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, Center for Human Genetics(CHG) with Indira Gandhi Hospital, Bengaluru, Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children (ICH & HC), Chennai, and Sree Avittam Thirunal Hospital (SAT), Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
The Ministry has announced the inclusion of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna as a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for rare diseases, on August 7.
The Ministry, in March, this year, has said that around 1,000 patients are registered in the CoEs for identified rare diseases. Under the Policy, Rs. 118.82 crore and Rs. 299.59 crore have been allocated for rare diseases for FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26, respectively.
It may be noted that in January, this year, the rare disease cell under the Ministry has included the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal, in the list, subject to compliance of the observations mentioned in the Report submitted by the Panel of Experts, within 12 months from the Office Memorandum.
During the announcement, the Ministry added that the continuation of the hospital as CoE for rare diseases will be re-examined by the Ministry upon the visit of its technical committee after 12 months for verification of compliance of various standards including efforts undertaken by the institute towards increasing awareness about rare diseases in Manipur and neighbouring North Eastern states, promoting and maintaining digital data for pre-natal diagnostic procedures such as amniocentesis and Chronic Villus Sampling, and maintaining records of termination, efforts undertaken by the institute towards establishment of renal transplantation, and liver transplantation for rare disease patients, among others.
|