Varanasi: Joint secretary, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY) and advisor (Cost), MoHFW, Lalit Wadhwa visited the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University on Friday to review the status of the National Centre of Ageing (NCA).A review meeting under the chairmanship of the BHU vice-chancellor, Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi was also held to assess the progress of the National Centre of Ageing and the Critical Care Block projects. The VC instructed the executive agencies of both the projects to expedite the work to ensure that it starts operating within the stipulated time-frame.Director, IMS-BHU, Prof S N Sankhwar, dean, faculty of medicine Prof Sanjay Gupta, Trauma PI Dr Saurabh Singh and nodal officer NCA Prof Anup Singh were present along with other officials of BHU.Officials said that the major construction work of the NCA building has been completed and the remaining work is expected to finish within this month. The installation of furniture and medical equipment at NCA is expected to be done by June end. In addition, a separate liquid oxygen plant is also being constructed to support critical care and ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply for the facility.Detailing about the manpower, nodal officer NCA Prof Anup said a total of 135 permanent posts have been sanctioned through the Ministry of Education and 174 contractual posts have been sanctioned under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Director IMS informed that the advertisement process for permanent faculty and other positions is expected to be initiated shortly by BHU. Lalit Wadhwa visited both the centres and gave his inputs.The NCA is being developed as a dedicated 200-bedded tertiary care facility for elderly healthcare under the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE), MoHFW. The facility will provide specialised geriatric services including ICU, HDU, dialysis services, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, specialised diagnostics, private wards, and comprehensive outpatient and inpatient elderly care services. In the initial phase, the centre is proposed to start functioning with 52 beds.The centre is also envisioned as an important academic and research hub in the field of Geriatric Medicine. With the objective of starting 15 MD Geriatric Medicine seats in the near future, the centre is expected to significantly strengthen teaching, training, research, and specialised healthcare services for the rapidly growing elderly population of the region and the country.
