CHANDIGARH : In a significant move to recognise the tireless service of medical professionals, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Thursday honoured 59 top-performing doctors from Government and Private sector at the State Level Doctors’ Award Ceremony held to commemorate National Doctors’ Day at Municipal Bhawan here.
The awards have been instituted under a first-of-its-kind Policy to Honour Doctors for outstanding services, introduced by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government. Under this institutionalised and merit-based policy, top-performing doctors from State Health Department, Government Medical Colleges and Private Sector receive a Certificate of Honour and a memento.
While congratulating all the doctors on Doctors’ Day, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh specially highlighted the contribution of Dr Virendra Singh, Director of the Punjab Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (PILBS). “The building which was originally supposed to be a Community Health Centre has now housed PILBS, where the first liver transplant has been successfully performed,” he said, while adding that the Institute is also in the process of performing kidney transplant very soon.
The Health Minister also applauded Dr Ashish Gulia, Director of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital, for taking cancer care to a higher level in the state and for his dedicated work on the prevention of cancer by focusing on early diagnosis.
Further, Dr Balbir Singh acclaimed renowned Cardiologist Dr Bishav Mohan and Neurologist Dr Jeyaraj D Pandian for successfully running the hub-and-spoke-based projects—STEMI and STROKE, respectively—which have been saving thousands of lives across Punjab.
Notably, the Punjab STEMI Project, based on the Hub and Spoke model, aims to provide timely and effective treatment for STEMI (heart attack) patients, with a primary focus on thrombolysis. Under this life-saving initiative, the Tenecteplase injection, which helps to dissolve blood clots in the heart and normally costs between Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000, is being administered completely free of cost to patients. Similarly, the Punjab Stroke Project aims at providing free mechanical thrombectomy to stroke patients suffering from ischemic stroke. This project is also based on the Hub and Spoke model, utilizing CMC Ludhiana as the central hub and three district hospitals as spokes.
Lauding the entire medical fraternity during the event, Dr Balbir Singh termed doctors as global role models. He cited that no matter what adversity strikes—whether it’s floods, COVID-19, or any other disasters—doctors always remain at the frontline to serve the people. He also thanked doctors for dealing with every patient with love and care even during difficult times like COVID-19.
The Health Minister stated that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government has been working hard to ensure quality healthcare at government health facilities is at par with private hospitals, reiterating that quality healthcare is a fundamental right of the economical weaker section as well.
Dr Balbir Singh also announced that on a similar pattern, the Punjab Government will very soon organise a function to honour the dedicated frontline services of ASHA Workers, Para-medical staff, Pharma, and other healthcare providers in the state.
