Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 3: In a major development for the tribal population living in the Peer Panjal Range, the Government Medical College Rajouri signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the project ECHO (Extension for community healthcare outcomes) on today.
In a meeting held at GMC Rajouri under the chairmanship of Prof (Dr) A S Bhatia, Principal, Govt. Medical College, Rajouri the MoU was signed with Dr Sandeep Bhalla, Vice President ECHO India. The event was attended by HoD Community Medicine, GMC Rajouri, Dr Syed Shuja Qadri, Dr Mehmood Hussain Bajjar, Medical Superintendent, AH & GMC Rajouri and ECHO India represented by Dr Sandeep Bhalla, Dr Promita Das and Dr Fazar Shah. The mission of project ECHO at the university of New Mexico Health Science Centre (UNMHSC) is to demonopolize knowledge and amplify the capacity to provide the best practice care for the underserved people all over the world. While speaking on the occasion, Dr Bhatia said that in pursuit of providing best medical services to the poor underserved people residing in the remote and hilly areas especially tribal population, GMC Rajouri has taken this initiative.
In the first hand, it was decided in the meeting to screen the tribal population of Peer Panjal Range for NonCommunicable Diseases (NCD) like Hypertension and Diabetes, which have shown a recent upward trend in the tribal population, for which a detailed road map will be prepared in close consultation with the local tribal leaders and eminent persons of the region.
Dr Sandeep Bhalla said this is the first MoU between any Govt Medical College and ECHO INDIA for screening Tribal population for NCD in the region and has assured all logistic help in training disease specific clinical management, recruiting community partners, IT Tools, curriculum resources and research design evaluation process to GMC Rajouri.
Principal GMC Rajouri said they will work in close coordination with the district administration Rajouri and Tribal Affairs Department, Govt of Jammu and Kashmir for screening tribal population for Non-Communicable Diseases and will bring a close coordination between the local tribal population and GMC Rajouri.
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