Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today inaugurated the newly constructed Burns and Plastic Surgery Block of AIIMS, New Delhi and dedicated it to Sushruta, ‘The Father of Plastic Surgery’.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan shared his vision of need for a Burns and Plastic Surgery Block. He said, “Burn injury is one of the biggest causes of workforce loss and this is an issue of concern for a rapidly developing economy like India. India has as many as 70 lakh burn injuries annually with mortality rate as high as 1.4 lakhs per year and an additional 2.4 lakhs patients end up with severe deformities. Due to its large population, most of the burn care facilities are overburdened and the state-of-the-art burn care is negligible. There is a dire need for a healthcare facility which can provide high quality care for large fraction of population. The new Burns & Plastic Surgery Block has been conceived with the vision of providing state-of-the-art care in the field of burns management and research.” Dr Harsh Vardhan added that this initiative by the Government will bridge the gap between this need and availability. He explained the objective behind setting up Burns and Plastic Surgery Block. “Burns & Plastic Surgery Block has three goals. The first is to reduce the number of deaths due to burns; a present death toll of 1.4lakhs a year due to burn is not a happy situation.” The most important determinant of death in burn patients is infection.This facility has individual cubicles in ICU for 30 patients and 10 private isolation beds to prevent any cross infection. Second, by adhering to standard protocols the Institution will be able to reduce the number of people who will end up with deformities. Third is to bring down the costs; management of burns involve direct and indirect costs. Direct cost comprises what is spent on medical care, and indirect loss is the economic impact due to loss of job, loss of wages, loss of productivity and loss of training etc.”

He further added, “This Block is equipped to deal with approximately 15,000 burn emergencies and 5000 burn admissions a year.It can deal with mass casualties efficiently by converting the patient receiving area itself into an emergency ward as per need.Integration of the block with the trauma center will provide easy assistance to trauma team in no time. These definite steps will help in decreasing deaths in burn patients and also reducing the deformities in survivors.”

Speaking on Sushruta and India being the birthplace of reconstructive nose surgeries, Dr. Harsh Vardhan noted, “This Center has been conceived with the vision of incorporating our ancient wound management skills as well. It will be equipped with most recent advances in medicine including AYUSH medications that are available for burns wound management. In addition, the facility will also train necessary staff and personnel. Itwill be equipped with the most advanced wound management techniques and equipments such as VAC and hyperbaric oxygen chambers.”

The Union Health Minister also visited the facilities in the block along with other dignitaries.

Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, Dr. Sunil Kumar, DG, DGHS, Dr Maneesh Singhal, Professor and Head, Department of Plastic, Reconstructive & Burns Surgery and other senior officials of the Health Ministry and faculty members of AIIMS, New Delhi were also present at the event.

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MV