“I want NBCC to make a sincere effort to finish the work in one year as against the eighteen months stipulated byit with the target of building the best sport injury center in the world.” This was stated by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare as he laid the Foundation Stone of Sports Injury Expansion Project at Safdarjung Hospital, here today in the presence of Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MoS (HFW).

At the function, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that under our beloved and inspirational Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji,there is a renewed focus on sports and the government is encouraging it like never before. The charismatic Prime Minister has said that New India should also be a Fit India, and he has launched the FitIndia Campaign yesterday to inspire people from all walks of life to adopt healthy lifestyle.

Dr Harsh Vardhan further stated that under the leadership of our Prime Minister we are aggressively moving towards setting up state-of-the-art health facilities with the best equipment, techniques and buildings. “These facilities are comparable to the very best in the country and the world, and it’s not only in Delhi, but such facilities are being created all over the country,” he said. As we move towards the vision of the Prime Minister of a New India by 2022, health shall be one of the key determinants and components of our advanced country, he stated.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said that Sports Injury Centre here shall be one of the most modern state-of-the-art sports injury centres in the world with the best facilitiescomparable to any part of the world. It shall cover every aspect of the sports injury. It will provide diagnostic, physiotherapy, rehabilitative, surgical and inpatient facilities, etc., to people suffering from sports and related injuries under one roof, he added.

He further stated that one of the priorities of the government is to expand quality tertiary health care facilities in all parts of the country. With the announcement of new AIIMS, the total number of AIIMS has gone up to 22. Further, super specialty blocks along with MCH wings are being set up in many districthospitaland medical college across the country. Apart from the already planned 82,additional 75 new medical colleges will be set up all over the country by 2022. These new medical colleges will come up in under-served areas having no medical college; with at least 200 bedded District Hospital. Preference will be given to Aspirational Districts and District Hospital having 300 beds, he added. This has been approved by the CCEA two days back.

Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MoS (HFW) congratulated Safdarjung Hospital for providing a gamut of services to the people. He also laid stress on completing the project before the deadline and stated that ‘sarvesantuniramaya’ i.e. health for all is the policy mandate of the Government and we will make all efforts towards fulfilling the same.

Sports Injury Expansion Project

There is an exponential increase in the number of patients visiting the Sports Injury Centre from 52133 in 2011 to 1,20101 in 2018.  Once completed, the new centre will have increased bed strength of 156 (including HDU and ICU beds) compared to the existing 42 beds and the Center will have a larger area. It will bring this Centre to global standards of excellence. The expansion will also help in increasing the PG seats to create trained manpower that can spread across India and treat sportsmen at the field level. The expansion will develop state-of-the-art labs to train doctors of India for surgical and nonsurgical management of sports injuries.

The expansion will also reduce the waiting period of surgery for sportsmen (current waiting 3 months) so that they can return to sports activities at the earliest.  Facilities like Gait lab, 3 D motion analysis system, underwater training system etc., for managing sportsmen and sports related injuries and training purposesare envisaged to be part of the expansion project. The specialty of sports medicine will be further strengthened by initiating research in various sub specialties of sports medicine. It will help to create an education system for sportsmen and to devise protocols for sports specific performance enhancement. The total cost involved for expansion of the Sports Injury Centreis Rs. 483cr.

SmtPreeti Sudan, Secretary (Health), Shri Sanjeeva Kumar, Spl. Secretary (Health), Dr Arya, Director SCI along with other senior officers from the Ministry and faculty from the Safdarjung Hospital were also present at the occasion.