Dr. NTR University Ruby Jubilee: VP Cites 846 Medical Colleges

Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan addressed the 40th anniversary, or Ruby Jubilee, celebrations of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and asked medical institutions to turn to research and innovation as their next task. He released a souvenir marking the university's four decades and joined the gathering in a pledge to stay away from drugs.

The university and the man it is named after

The institution is named after Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and the Vice-President said it carries forward his vision, adding that Dr. NTR's public service reached past the boundaries of one region. Congratulating the university on completing forty years in medical education and health care, he hoped its researchers would win global recognition, the Nobel Prize included, for their work in medical science.

How medical education has grown

Speaking of the expansion of medical education, the Vice-President gave the figures below.

Technology with a limit

Artificial intelligence, digital health, telemedicine and newer diagnostic tools are changing the way medicine is practised, the Vice-President said, and he urged the university to tie up with leading institutions so that its students and researchers see advanced work at close quarters. But technical progress, he cautioned, has to be held to scientific validation, patient safety, data privacy and ethical duty. Machines cannot take over the compassion and the human bond that sit at the centre of the relationship between a doctor and a patient.

A call to doctors on drugs

The Vice-President also asked doctors and health workers to take the lead in creating awareness against drug abuse, calling the fight a shared responsibility of society rather than the task of enforcement agencies alone. He said the medical fraternity is placed to guide the effort to build a drug-free society.

Who was present

S. Abdul Nazeer, Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Chancellor of the university, attended, along with Kolusu Parthasarathy, the state's Minister for Housing, Information and Public Relations; P. Chandrasekhar, Vice-Chancellor of the university; and M. K. Ramesh, President of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board of the National Medical Commission. Earlier, the Governor and state minister Nara Lokesh received the Vice-President at Vijayawada airport.