Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today said that there is going to be renewed focus on the study and management of infectious diseases in the post-COVID era. He said the medical curriculum will  have to adapt itself accordingly.

Dr Jitendra Singh was addressing a Virtual Conference with the Heads and representatives of National Medical Teaching Institutes, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, PGI Chandigarh, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Manipur, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) Shillong and Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, in last three decades, the disease spectrum in India shifted to non-communicable diseases and hence the medical teaching got focussed more on metabolic and vascular disorders like Diabetes Mellitus and coronary heart diseases etc, while the infectious diseases took a back seat .

Dr Singh said , COVID, however, has suddenly awakened the whole world, particularly the medical fraternity, to realise that the age of infections is far from over. Dr Jitendra Singh said, Indian medical fraternity has an advantage over their western counterparts because here the practice of medicine was inherently tuned to preions based on hygiene and prevention of cross infections. He said , in the wake of COVID also, Indian medical fraternity was quick to re-orient itself to the new norms of medical management.