Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced a special fund of Rs 100 crore on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the Topiwala Medical College and BYL Nair Hospital in Mumbai.

Attending a virtual function on the occasion Saturday, Thackeray said that the Nair Hospital was started 25 years before independence and has adapted to changes over time. The hospital is the epitome of perseverance.

Many have donated to the organization for the construction of Nair Hospital. On the same lines, on the occasion of the centenary celebrations, a special fund of Rs. 100 crore is being given to the Nair Hospital jointly by both the state government and the municipal corporation. He expressed confidence that the money will be used to carry out futuristic work which will be useful for the next 100 years.

He said that when the Spanish flu struck a hundred years ago, wearing a mask was the primary protective measure. The same solution is true even today. Virus had come before and will probably come later. “Information on what measures should be taken during the period of such communicable diseases, statistics should be compiled. That information should be available even after two hundred years.”

The chief minister also dedicated a Surgical Skills Laboratory, Computer Assisted Learning Lab and Centre for Excellence in Immunology Research in collaboration with  ICMR  and National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) to the hospital.  

He also unveiled a special postal cover published at the Nair Hospital by the Indian Postal Department, a collection of about 1,000 medical research papers and literature based on medical experiences and memories from medical officers of Nair Hospital in the last 10 years and published medical documents based on the response of the corporation during  the Covid period.

A documentary on highlights of the hospital in the medical field was also screened on the occasion.

The mayor of Mumbai, Kishori Pednekar, said, “The Nair Hospital was the first to build a capacity of 700 to 1,000 thousand beds during Covid. The hospital's performance in safe delivery of pregnant women during the Covid has been lauded around the world.”

Minister of state for environment, tourism and Mumbai suburban district guardian minister Aditya Thackeray, minister of textiles and guardian minister of Mumbai city Aslam Sheikh, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, additional municipal commissioner (western suburbs) Suresh Kakani, chief postmaster general of Maharashtra and Goa Harishchandra Agrawal, senior BMC, BEST officials and people’s representatives were present.

Conference on possible third wave

On Sunday the CM will also inaugurate the State Task Force's 'My Doctor' online medical conference on the possible third wave of Covid. Discussions will be held to raise awareness of the third wave of Covid  as well as various precautions to be taken.

The conference will be held from 11 am to 1 pm and can be viewed on @CMOMaharashtra on Twitter, Facebook and on YouTube at  https://youtube.com/c/CMOMaharashtra

It will be open to all family doctors, medical and health workers in the state as well as citizens.
Questions for the conference can be sent to www.facebook.com/onemdhealth.

Health minister, Rajesh Tope and medical education minister Amit Deshmukh, Covid State Action Force President Dr Sanjay Oak, member Dr Rahul Pandit, Dr Shashank Joshi, Dr Ajit Desai, Dr Suhas Prabhu, President of the State Action Force for Children, and Dr Mehul Mehta from the US , Chief Secretary, Sitaram Kunte , Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health, Dr Pradip Vyas will attend the conference.

Vaccination progress

On Saturday, Mumbai achieved the distinction of carrying out 1.3 lakh vaccinations in a single day. Now about 80% of eligible citizens of MCGM have taken at least one dose of vaccination, making Mumbai number 1 in percentage terms amongst major cities of India. Also, 30% of the eligible citizens have received both the doses by now.

“I salute private hospitals of Mumbai for their great help and participation in the vaccination drive,” municipal commissioner Chahal said.