Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates NEIAH hostels, quarters & guest house

Shillong: Union Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated six new buildings of the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy (NEIAH) here.

The buildings include a boys and girls hostel, 20 quarters and a director's quarter, a senior resident hostel and a guest house built at an estimated cost of Rs 60.16 crore.

Addressing the function on Monday Sonowal said, "The 6 new buildings will expand the capacity of NEIAH furthering the role of traditional medicine in the region."

He said the Government of India sees huge role of integrative medicine in the healthcare solutions delivery system of the country in the forthcoming years.

"The investment made by the government through these new buildings will embolden our effort to rejuvenate traditional medicine in this region of the country. I am happy to inform you that NEIAH will be starting its ambulance services soon," he said.

Highlighting Northeast's role in traditional medicine, Sonowal said the region has natural bounty in traditional medicines.

"This has helped us heal for many generations. We simply want to take this process forward so that it can help many more people and help them live a better quality of life. The vision of PM Narendra Modi is to develop a healthcare delivery system which is effective and efficient," he said.

NEIAH reported a steady growth in patient’s footfalls over the years.

Last year, the hospital recorded a footfall of 52,088 patients in its OPD clinics while 504 patients were admitted as IPD patients for healing and recovery.

In Ayurveda, over 36,600 patients reported at the OPD clinics as well as 482 patients got admitted at the IPD section of the university.

In Homoeopathy, the footfall in its OPD clinics were over 19,000 patients while 22 patients got themselves admitted under it.

As many as 35 health camps and 4 CMEs (Continuing Medical Education) were conducted by NEIAH during the same period, according to a senior official of the institute.

In academics, NEIAH has already enrolled six undergraduate batches in Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS).

The Institute with a 80 bed hospital is currently running one college of Ayurveda and a college of Homoeopathy.