A model rural health research unit is being established in the Kallur primary health centre attached to the Tirunelveli Medical College.
T.S. Jawahar, Senior Deputy Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), who will lay the foundation for the centre in the coming week, said the Union government had chosen rural areas to build the capacity of peripheral medical colleges. Kallur was one of the five locations in the country where such units were being established by the Union Health Ministry on an outlay of Rs.5 crore over five years.
“Until recently, research was mostly concentrated in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. In rural areas, we have talented doctors who can provide rich information on local diseases, but they do not have an opportunity to take part in research. The project has been sanctioned to the Tirunelveli Medical College because of the backwardness of the region and the high disease burden in the area,” Mr. Jawahar said.
He said the ICMR planned to provide the research centres with laboratories for molecular, microbiology, biochemistry and pathological investigations.
