OdishaPlus Bureau
Eminent environmentalist Prof Radhamohan called for healthy soil for healthy food, public awareness campaign for cleanliness and improved sanitation facilities for women among many other suggestions in his remarks following his felicitation in the inaugural session of the AIPH University’s annual national workshop.
Quoting the famous philosopher Will Durant from his book “Story of Civilization” he said in the context of the current novel coronavirus crisis that – “these microbes will someday join hands to bring down the marauding bipeds”. While mankind has been worried about population explosion for a long time, some experts are now predicting a crash in population in coming decades from effects of climate change driven pandemics. Dr. SushilKar, the director of Nursing of Government of Odisha representing the Principal Secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal gave the example of reduction in malaria deaths to illustrate how strong public health campaigns and interventions can show concrete results.
He called for greater collaboration between institutions such as AIPH University and government agencies in strengthening implementation efforts in health sector. While Prof J Mahapatra, vice chancellor welcomed the guests, Prof Pinaki Panigrahi – the founder president of AIPH gave a broad background to the institute’s journey and vision for the future.
In the technical session, presentations were made by Dr Narendra Kumar Jena, Head of Emergency Medicine, Minakshi Mission Hospital, Maduraion Coronavirus crisis& its management. Healthcare Management expert Mr Keerti Pradhan discussed the role of academia in preparing public health professionals in meeting the growing demand from the health care sector. Former world bank senior finance officer MrBinodNayakdiscussed on role of micro finance and micro insurance in public health delivery. The session was chaired by Mr Vivekananda Patnaik, IAS who is a senior advisor of AIPH University.
In the post-lunch session, a panel discussion was held with eminent panelists such as DrOmkarMohanty, former vice chancellor of BPUT, Prof Luna Samant, Dean of School of Biological Sciences of Ravenshaw University, DrPriyadarshanPatra, Dean of Research, Xavier University and DrSrijit Mishra, Director Nabakrushna Choudhury Center for Development Studies. They shed light on various aspect of Public Health research and education.
Students were awarded for their performance in different categories and for their poster on the theme of the workshop. The deliberations of the workshop with key recommendations will be submitted to the state government.
For more information please see www.aiph.ac.in