DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 28: Minister of Health & Family Welfare, S Pangnyu Phom on Monday inaugurated a 50-bed COVID-19 hospital at District Hospital Dimapur, which he referred to as “one of the most required and needed facility”. He informed that the State and the Department, is coming up with 3 new districts hospitals each at Zunheboto, Noklak and Longleng with an objective to assist and provide better health facilities.
The construction of the newly inaugurated hospital had started on October 14, 2021 and was completed in a span of 3 months. It is funded with support of Novo Nordisk Foundation, Embassy of Denmark, C-CAMP Bengaluru and Invest India AGNli Mission, under the guidance of the office of Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India.
Expressing gratitude towards Novo Nordisk Foundation for the philanthropic funding and appreciating the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser for selecting Dimapur, he said that the hospital will cater to peoples need with all the advanced equipments in place which will enable timely care and proper treatment.
Noting that the COVID-19 was a disaster, however, it has paved a way to focus and invest more in health sector, the Minister added that with the help of the donors, assistance of Government of India, the health infrastructure in the State has been drastically improved and from District Hospitals to Sub-Centres have now the most required things in place for any eventuality.
“We will remain indebted and ever grateful to the donors and facilitators of this 50-Bed COVID-19 Hospital at Dimapur and will continue to partner in all forms of activity with fullest cooperation and coordination by the State and the Department of Health & Family Welfare in the near future”, he said and assured proper care of the hospital.
Ambassador of Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi, Freddy Svane speaking virtually on the occasion stated that building hospital infrastructures in remote areas is important and hoped that the hospital would further pave the way to work together in future for the benefit of everyone.
Calling India a country with which Norway intends to partner in many fronts which include climate change and health, Counsellor Innovation, Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi, Dr. Jakob Williams Oerberg, in his brief address, stated that the project of building the COVID hospital in Dimapur was a way of showing that everyone needed to work together to curb COVID and expressed hope of further future partnerships. He also mentioned that the hospital has been built keeping the aspects of it eco-friendly.
DC Dimapur, Rajesh Soundararajan, who also spoke on the occasion, said that Dimapur being the only district connected with airways and railways has a high population besides a sizeable floating population, which makes it one of the most vulnerable.
In his address, he noted that Dimapur detected the highest COVID-19 cases and during the second wave, the hospitals were overflowing. He maintained that if Dimapur has better facilities, it also caters to the needs of the entire State as well as neighbouring States.
Chief Technology Officer, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Mudit Narain also spoke on the occasion and representing C-Camp Bengaluru, Uttam Bhattacharyya, delivered the technical report.
The hospital, stationed within the District Hospital, Dimapur, is expected to withstand 30 years, and with proper care, can be easily functional beyond 50 years. Each bed in the hospital has a dedicated oxygen concentrator having a capacity of 5 liters. A similarity facility is also planned for Mokokchung, according to Bhattacharyya.
(Page News Service)
