ICMR opens regional medical research centre at Gorakhpur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Indian Council of Medical Research’s Regional Medical Research Centre Gorakhpur (ICMR-RMRC GKP) in Gorakhpur on December 7, 2021.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Modi expressed a drastic reduction in the cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the area and the growth of the medical infrastructure in the area. He also emphasised that with AIIMS and ICMR Centre, the fight against JE will gain new strength.

RMRC, Gorakhpur is one of the 26 institutes of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), under Department of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of Government of India.

The new centre at RMRC Gorakhpur is enabled by state-of-the-art infrastructure, which will further expedite the institute’s efforts to enhance health research in areas of viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases.

Since the foundation it has conducted path breaking work in developing diagnostics and vaccines for JE and AES as well as leading COVID-19 vaccination and testing in the northeast region of Uttar Pradesh.

As per Rajni Kant, director, ICMR-RMRC, Gorakhpur, the new centre, constructed at BRD Medical College is equipped with world class facilities aiming to make RMRC- Gorakhpur a state-of-the-art centre of excellence for health research and will go a long way in improving the health status of the region.

The inauguration was also attended by Yogi Adityanath, CM of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel, governor, Uttar Pradesh and Balram Bhargava, secretary, Department of Health Research & Director General of ICMR.

According to Balram Bhargava, as the pioneering biomedical research institute in the state, RMRC Gorakhpur is critical in enhancing health research in the region and subsequently ensuring better health outcomes.