JOIN USRGICD seeks national status
A proposal has been submitted to J P Nadda, the union minister of health and family welfare to upgrade the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) in the city to the status of a National Institute of Chest Diseases, on the lines of Nimhans.
The proposal had also been presented to the then union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and has been pending before the Centre ever since.
Presently, the institute - with 470 beds - functions under the State government. The overall budget for the proposed institute is Rs 289.42 crore (over five years).
Budget
While the State government would bear 10 per cent of the budget and the recurring costs in future, the rest may be sanctioned by the Centre. The State had approved the proposal in 2012.
Dr Shashidhar Buggi, director, RGICD, submitted the proposal to Nadda at an event earlier this month.
Also, a recommendation letter was sent from minister for chemicals and fertilisers Ananth Kumar.
With the proposed upgrading of the institute, doctors at the hospital hope that more emphasis would be laid on conducting fundamental research essential for the management of newer challenges in respiratory diseases.
Buggi said that with growing respiratory ailments, this was the need of the hour.
“Air pollution has gone up remarkably. It is most certain that diseases related to respiratory system will also be on the rise. An institute of that magnitude becomes important,” he added.
The institute is housed on a vast campus of 65 acres.
Should the institute be upgraded, 15 new departments would be set up apart from the existing departments: pulmonary medicine and thoracic surgery.
Departments
The departments of thoracic anaesthesiology, thoracic imaging and interventional radiology, pathology, transfusion medicine (blood bank), clinical hematology, biochemistry, microbiology, virology, basic pulmonary sciences, epidemiology, biostatistics, health education, pulmonary rehabilitation, nursing, library and information centre.
The proposed budget for department of thoracic imaging and interventional radiology is Rs 65.16 crore.