India's healthcare effectively kept Coronavirus mortality at 'minimum', recovery at 'maximum': Vardhan

New Delhi: More than 5 million people have been infected with coronavirus but the healthcare system of India has shown great efficiency in providing diagnostic and management facilities as well as keeping the mortality at 'minimum' and recovery at 'maximum', Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Friday.

He was speaking at an event to mark the 65th Foundation Day of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He said the country's continuously rising COVID-19 recovery rate and progressively falling case fatality rate have proven the success of the containment strategy followed by all states/UTs, the health ministry said in a statement. "We have successfully ramped up our testing capacity which has touched nearly 15 lakh milestone today with more than 1,800 testing labs spread across the country. "I have confidence in the scientific developments taking place in the field of treatment and vaccines for COVID-19 and soon India will achieve more success in our fight against coronavirus infection," the statement quoted Vardhan as saying.

Congratulating the AIMS fraternity for being ranked as number one among medical institutions by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Vardhan expressed satisfaction that AIIMS has fulfilled the objectives of its establishment by the Indian Parliament in 1956. He also hailed the institution's huge contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. "More than 5 million patients have been infected with coronavirus but the healthcare system of India has shown great efficiency in not only providing diagnostic and management facilities but also keeping the mortality at minimum and recovery at maximum. "I appreciate that in the last six months, AIIMS has taken a huge responsibility of providing care to patients suffering from COVID-19, for innovating in areas of research, guiding colleagues across the country and developing new methods of teaching and communication," the statement said.

Speaking at the event, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey praised the medical community for their endless and selfless efforts during COVID times. "AIIMS has established high reputation and has contributed significantly in academic, research and patient care. It has attracted students from various other countries like the US, UK, Australia, Germany, among others. It is a huge achievement," he was quoted as saying in a statement. Choubey added that the central government was making efforts to spread the services of AIIMS to every nook and corner of the country. Vardhan and Choubey also gave away awards and medals to faculty members and graduating students during the event.

"This is the dream of every medical student to become a student of AIIMS. On this 65th foundation Day, I request all of you to aggressively and meticulously brainstorm some ideas which will be helpful in strengthening the medical services in India and in positioning India among the top scientific nations," Vardhan said. The health minister also released a manual and inaugurated an exhibition titled 'AIIMS in COVID Times' which highlighted the contribution of AIIMS in dealing with a public health emergency, the statement added.