New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) The International Road Federation (IRF) on Tuesday said Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNAT), which is part of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, should not be reconverted into the COVID-19 centre in the wake of the threat posed by the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
In March last year, JPNAT was converted into a full-fledged COVID-19 centre and normal trauma services were recently restored at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNAT), global road safety body IRF said in a statement.
The Federation said it has written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urging him to step in and not to allow reconversion of JPNAT into the COVID-19 centre.
IRF President Emeritus K K Kapila said, “The JPNAT trauma centre is essentially needed as this is the holistic trauma care centre which has become a world-famous level-I trauma care centre with an annual footfall of 70-80,000 (only injured patients).” Kapila added that it has been the only centre in the country providing 24×7 quality patient care with all specialities catering to injured patients.
“The Centre also catered to complicated trauma victims referred from other hospitals, patients from central armed police forces injured in action, patients of mass and multiple casualty incidents,” Kapila said.
India accounts for about 1.5 lakh road accident deaths per year, the highest in the world with more than 4.25 lakh injuries. The country annually needs trauma services more, the IRF said. PTI SID HRS hrs
