Punjab Health Minister apprised of ICMR Grant given to DMCH for treatment of epilepsy

Ludhiana, May 20, 2017: Punjab Health Minister Shri Brahm Mohindra today visited DMCH and was apprised of prestigious grant given to DMCH by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for to develop a model of care for an epilepsy control programme for the Government of India.

Secretary of DMCH Managing Society-Sh Prem Kumar Gupta informed that Dayanand Medical College & Hospital has recently secured a grant from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health, India, to undertake the above-mentioned project for Government of India. The project will be undertaken over a period of three years with provision of free medications and investigations for people with epilepsy in Ludhiana district. If the project gets success then the model will be adopted across India. The project will provide diagnostic services, free medication and ongoing care to people with epilepsy. The project will determine whether home-based comprehensive care with provision of medications improves adherence to medications and improves quality of life in people with epilepsy.

Secretary Sh Prem Kumar Gupta assured that DMCH will go hand-in-hand with Government of Punjab to establish a healthy society and will co-operate to its fullest in eliminating drug menace from the state and providing services of super-specialist doctors of DMCH to Civil Hospital and also make available medicines at cheaper cost to the general public.

Dr Rajinder Bansal, Professor of Neurology, informed that Epilepsy is the commonest neurological disorder. There are five million people with epilepsy in India. According to a rough estimate, there are nearly 4,00,000 people with epilepsy live Ludhiana only. Epilepsy remains a profoundly stigmatising disorder but there are a number of myths and Misconceptions surrounding the disorder, said Dr Bansal.