New Delhi. AIIMS director M. Srinivas has said that if India has to get a Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, it will probably go to AIIMS-Delhi and that the institute is “working on that vision”. Dr Srinivas said AIIMS-Delhi is doing a lot of research on various diseases that are prevalent in the country and can have a social impact. However, he said doctors at the country’s leading hospital have to devote more time to patient care than to research.
Outlining his vision to put India’s premier hospital and medical institute on the global map, Dr Srinivas, in an exclusive interview with PTI Editors, said research on diseases that are uniquely present in India would help shape policies to understand and address them.
He said, “We have definitely made progress in the field of research. You have to understand that if we do not do research for diseases that are important and geographically specific to our country, then who else will do it.” Dr. Srinivas said that whether it is through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare or the Indian Council of Medical Research or AIIMS, our focus is to look at the health problems in the country and find out what are the research areas and what needs to be done.
He said, “In the broader context, about research, we can say that if India gets a Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, it will probably go to AIIMS-Delhi. We are working on that vision.” However, he said that their counterparts abroad can focus exclusively on research while AIIMS-Delhi has to focus on patient care and teaching as well.
He said, “Our time is spent more on patient care and less on research at AIIMS-Delhi. When we see a patient who needs our care, needs intervention and the patient is dying in front of us, then obviously we will give more time to the patient. If we have to win the Nobel Prize, then we have to concentrate completely.”