pune

Updated: Feb 08, 2019 17:24 IST

Lieutenant General Bipin Puri, the Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services and chairman of the International Committee of Military Medicine (IMCC) announced that the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) is planning to collaborate with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to develop an aerospace medicine soon.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a four-day conference organised by the AFMC on Thursday.

He said, “India’s first human space mission-Gaganyaan mission 2022 which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently is an ambitious project and AFMS will play an important role towards developing medicines that can be used in aerospace. It is an important event for all of us and hence steps towards developing the aviation medicines will be undertaken soon at the Bangalore-based laboratory.”

The laboratory in Bangalore has the required infrastructure and aviation medicine can be developed here, he added.

Meanwhile, the four-day conference, organised by Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) Pune under the supervision of Surgeon Vice-Admiral Ravi Kalra, NM, VSM, director and commandant, has kick started and was inaugurated by Lieutenant General Bipin Puri, PVSM, VSM, PHS, director general, armed forces medical services on Wednesday.

While speaking about the largest annual medical conference, Puri said, “It is a deliberation where many army personnel and medical professionals from the navy, air force and army meet and discuss the health challenges, faced by the officials.”

“Our army professionals and officials do face several issues like severe dehydration in the deserts, develop pneumonia, frost bite in high altitude, heat stroke in deserts among others. Also, the main problem is to tackle malaria which is often reported as our officials are placed in forests where mosquito bites are commonly reported. All these issues need to be dealt with and need a long term solution. We are in midst of developing preventive strategies for the same that can be used for all soon,” said Puri.

During the event at Armed Forces Medical College 80 researchers were rewarded for their research papers.

Programme to tackle mass calamity

Lieutenant General Bipin Puri, the director general of armed forces medical service and chairman of the international committee of military medicine, said, “There will be a major event on how to handle mass calamity which will be held in Lucknow in March, where 18 countries will be present. It will be a programme on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief on how to manage calamities and disasters.”

Meanwhile, he also shared that there is an application developed by the AFMS which will be meant for the people suffering from haemophilia. Heamophilia affects men, male children born with this disorder, mainly suffer from a disability and the application which the AFMS will develop and is being used by some patients and will be soon accepted by the government of India and will be launched nationally. He said, “ It is first of its kind application for people suffering from the blood disorder and we are hopeful that it will help the patients and others to know more about the management of the disorder.”