200-bed AIIMS surgical block nearing completion

Prateek Chauhan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 3

Bearing a burden of nearly 27-lakh patients waiting for surgery every year, the much-awaited AIIMS surgical block is almost ready now.

According to an AIIMS official, the surgical block will start by March-end. This block will be equipped with 200 beds and patients will get far better medical facilities here. An important aspect of this 200-bed surgical block is patients will get their surgery and organ transplant done without delay.

It is a known fact that to get an appointment for surgery at AIIMS, it takes more than a year, because of the rush of patients at the hospital.

In general, surgery patients are given at least six months' time for an operation. Kidney transplant patients have to wait for a year..

A cancer patient Seema Gupta, undergoing chemotherapy for a few days, said, “I was detected with breast cancer a year ago, but my treatment started so late because there was a long queue of breast cancer patients. My condition worsened as I had to wait for at least a year. This, despite the fact that my husband works in AIIMS.”

AIIMS spokesperson Dr. Amit Gupta said, “There would be 12 operation theaters (OT) in this block. Presently, there are 65 beds available in general surgery at AIIMS hospital and only four operation theatres. After this new surgical block, 12 more operation theaters will be added. This surgical block will consist of vascular surgery and thoracic surgery facilities as well. There would be a separate unit for kidney transplant.”

The Indian Medical Association ( IMA ) promoting an organ donation campaign has launched a programme, ‘Poochna Mat Bhoolo'. 

On the issue of eye donation, Dr. K.K. Aggrawal, national president of IMA, said, “There is a huge gap in the country for organ donation and transplant. The reason behind is the unawareness amongst the people. As every year, two lakh people need cornea transplant, but very few donors are available. If the hospital doctors creaate, the situation may change and the organ donation may increase.”