The Tamil Nadu Governor Dr K Rosaiah has called upon young medicos to harness their training and learning in order to articulate a vision for a better tomorrow to build a healthier India. He said this while delivering the convocation address 2013 at the Christian Medical College here on Monday.
The Governor, while stressing on the need for preventive, promotive and curative health care measures as the need of the hour, said, “We have to surge ahead to reduce maternal and infant mortality as well as communicable diseases while curbing the rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases by addressing the dimensions of equity, quality, efficiency, affordability and accessibility to health care.”
Health is not the mere absence of disease. Health is a fundamental right and the most important social goal. Ensuring access to safe drinking water, education, sanitation and nutritional safety are the basic entitlements which had profound effect on health, he added.
The silver lining, according to him, was India’s huge brain and the youth power which had made many nations turn around and watch with amazement India’s overall progress and growth.
“The life expectancy of an Indian was now at an average of 63.5 years and the health statistics are impressive while the state of Tamil Nadu stands as a huge model in the country,” he noted.
Describing graduation as a threshold that marked an extraordinary milestone in an individual and the collective journey of a youth, he appealed to the graduates to “Mould together professional competence, social relevance and evidence based ethical practice.”
“Focus your commitments towards research which is relevant to the health needs of the country by taking a clue from your alma mater which is in the forefront in specialized medical and surgical training, open heart and reconstructive surgery, organ transplantation and so on. The ground breaking research by CMC on polio had culminated in India by adopting the pulse polio programme, which had freed the country from Polio, he added.
The governor also handed over degree certificates to 274 students (graduates and post graduates), Best Teacher Award to Dr Vinoo Mathew Cherian, Rev Dr Lourdu M Yeddanapalli Award to Professor Rejesh Kannangai, Paul Harrison Award to Dr Daisy Rani Rao (an alumna) and honorary fellowship to Krishna Srinivasan. Earlier, CMC director Dr Sunil Chandy welcomed the gathering.