Teaching Preventive Medicine in MBBS course from 1st year is right step: VP Naidu

Andhra Pradesh: “The initiative of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to teach Preventive Medicine from the first year of MBBS course is a step in the right direction,” the Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu recently stated talking about the rising burden of lifestyle diseases in the country and the need to empower medical practitioners to tackle this growing menace. He was talking on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee of Rangaraya Medical College.

The Vice President lauded by the MCI’s initiative after taking note of the rise in the number of patients suffering from lifestyle diseases.

Addressing the Diamond Jubilee of Rangaraya Medical College and Golden Jubilee of its Old Students Association, in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, the Vice President said, “We are seeing a double burden of diseases—infectious ailments as well as an increased incidence in lifestyle diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease and cancers.”

Asking various medical associations to take up a campaign to educate people on the measures to be adopted for preventing lifestyle diseases, the authority pointed out, “According to a paper published in ‘The Lancet Global Health’, the three leading causes of mortality—cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes—together accounted for a substantial proportion of total deaths in India in 2016 with considerable cross-state variation.”

Taking note of the study, the VP appreciated the idea of Medical Council of India to conduct classes for teaching Preventive Medicine to the MBBS students from the first year.

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In addition, the VP Naidu also stressed the need to provide affordable medical facilities to people living in rural areas. For this, he asked medical colleges to encourage students to visit rural areas and understand the healthcare requirements of poor and downtrodden.

During the occasion, he noted and lauded the medical college’s quest for expanding medical education has been scaling new heights as seen in the doubling of the number of admissions in Under-Graduate (UG) courses and in starting Post-Graduate (PG) diploma, degree, and Super-Specialty (SS) courses.

He further asked the young doctors to be sensitive to patients and their family.

Saying that India had made significant improvements in providing basic and advanced health care since independence, Shri Naidu opined that much needed to be done to improve life expectancy, reduce maternal and infant mortality rates and improve quality of life.

The Vice President urged Medical Council and affiliated organizations to bring in high standards in medical education across the country and increase medical and laboratory infrastructure at institutions.

Last but not the least, on the subject of compulsory bond service, the VP said, “As regards the manpower shortage of medical professionals, I have also been advocating that a doctor in the government service should mandatorily serve in rural areas before getting his/her first promotion.”

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