Kerala Opposition Leader condoles Dr. Valiathan’s passing
The Hindu
Kerala's Leader of the Opposition praises Dr. M.S. Valiathan for founding SCTIMST, a pioneering medical research institution.
Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on July 18 said the nation owed Dr. M.S. Valiathan for founding the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), a premium medical research institution that earned Kerala and India a pride of place on the global health research and innovation map.
Mr. Satheesan said that, as founder-director of SCTIMST, Dr. Valiathan had opened the door for ordinary people to get highly specialised care at an affordable rate.
For one, Dr. Valiathan retooled SCTIMST to develop heart valves instead of relying on expensive ones imported at high cost and significant delays from foreign countries.
Mr. Satheesan highlighted the scale of Dr. Valiathan’s heart valve initiative, which, he said, provided a fresh lease of life to lakhs of common folk suffering from cardiac illness and significantly improved public health in Kerala.
He remembered that Dr. Valiathan was at the forefront of creating public health awareness among citizens and was interested in other branches of science, including mathematics and Ayurveda.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has sought a report from the State government on a complaint that the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had taken up works amounting to ₹387 crore in violation of rules in Varuna and Srirangapatna Assembly constituencies, allegedly on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s oral instructions.
“We are organising a health research convention, which comprises a couple of workshops, community-based learning, and also cardiac care. We also included a one-day seminar on medical education, how medical education has evolved in India and the U.K., and what we can learn from each other” said Dr. Piruthivi Sukumar Dean of the International Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds during his interaction with The Hindu.