Apollo Gleneagles Cancer Hospital, Kolkata partnered with Yuvraj Singh’s ‘Youwecan’ Cancer Screening Initiative and launched its first Mobile Cancer Screening Unit whichwill undertake cancer screening programs at various locations in West Bengal. The Mobile Cancer Screening Unit was flagged off jointly by eminent cricketer, Mr Yuvraj Singh and Dr. Rupali Basu, Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals – Kolkata. The specialized Mobile Unit is equipped with state-of-the art Auto Analyzers and Enzyme Analyzers for blood tests and a X-Ray machine to carry out on-the-spot chest X-rays. All the tests and clinical examinations would be done by the on-board Doctor, Lab Technician, X-ray Technician and Nurses. The Mobile Medical Unit would go to various locations in our state to carry out on-the-spot cancer detection. This initiative offers free consultations to all. Two highly subsidized screening packages are also being offered to the people as per the advice of the on-board-doctor. Apollo Gleneagles Cancer Hospital has joined hands with YOUWECAN, founded by eminent cricketer Mr. Yuvraj Singh to organize mass cancer screening programs across various locations in West Bengal and other states.

Chairman Dr Reddy announces a comprehensive non communicable disease screening programme at the Third Annual Conference of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. Physicians of Indian origin from across the globe congregated at the third annual conference of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO) in Kochi, Kerala, with a vision to improve healthcare worldwide. GAPIO was launched in January 2011 to bring together 1.2 million physicians of Indian origin in the world on one professional platform. This substantial workforce of physicians is a valuable resource, which can help to mobilize significant developments in the healthcare globally. GAPIO already has representation from 15 countries in the President’s Council. Speaking on the occasion of 3rd Annual conference at Kochi, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, President, GAPIO said "establishing itself as an association of the Indian medical diaspora, GAPIO is marching ahead to impact global healthcare. The moment has arrived for the Indian doctor to take a lead in shaping the contours of global health scenario". Dr Reddy announced a comprehensive screening programme for non communicable diseases in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh as a pilot by GAPIO, which will then be replicated in other parts of the country. GAPIO would also like to work closely with the Government of India and different state governments in screening programs. Dr Sanku Rao, Vice President, GAPIO announced the plastic surgery program that will be held in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh in January where more than 100 patients will undergo free surgery. According to Dr. Ramesh Mehta, Secretary General, GAPIO, an exchange program to facilitate senior faculty exchange across institutions in India and other countries will also be launched this year.

The first ‘Apollo Isha Vidya Rural School’ at Aragonda village, Chittoor District was formally opened by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Founder, Isha Foundation in the presence of Padma Vibhushan Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, Board members of Apollo Hospitals Group & Isha Foundation and many other national dignitaries. The Aragonda Apollo Medical & Educational Research Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by Padma Vibhushan Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman Apollo Hospitals Group and the ISHA Foundation had signed a Memorandum of Understanding at Chennai in February 2012 with a focus on numerous laudable objectives in the domain of education and healthcare. A core goal of the MoU was to start a Primary School at Aragonda and Chittoor and to subsequently scale it up to a Junior College level. Speaking at the opening of the first Apollo Isha Vidya Rural School at Aragonda, Sangita Reddy, Executive Director, Operations, Apollo Hospitals Group & Chairperson, Apollo Philanthropy said, “Our children are our most precious assets for the future of our nation. At Apollo, one of our primary goals is to nurture their potential with high quality education and healthcare. Therefore, the environment and focus of the Apollo Isha Vidya Rural School has been designed to ensure that learning is a joyous experience for the children, allowing them to blossom to their fullest potential”. Aragonda is the birthplace of Dr. Prathap C. Reddy and with a desire to mark a new dawn in educational models, Dr. Reddy provided his personal land and funded the construction of the school building as his contribution to society and for the people of Aragonda and Chittoor district. The Apollo Isha Vidya Rural School, a primary school will follow the Andhra Pradesh State Board syllabus with English as the medium of instruction. The school is starting with 120 children from LKG to 2nd Std and will eventually scale up to 12th Std with 2 sections each, providing quality education for about 1,200 students. The school will extensively use digital content and special methodologies to teach English and other subjects, to augment the curriculum. Besides the curriculum, the school will strive to provide all-round development of the child with emphasis on yoga, sports, arts & crafts and environmental education to the rural children while preserving their local culture. In later years the school will add a multipurpose hall to provide vocational training as well. ISHA Foundation will support this initiative by giving its Management Services to build the institution as a Center of Excellence in School Education in Andhra Pradesh. Scholarships will be awarded by the Management to the underprivileged children on a case to case basis. Isha Foundation, founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, currently runs 7 rural schools for under privileged children in the state of Tamil Nadu under the name of Isha Vidya Rural Schools. Over 4,000 students are studying in the 7 Isha Vidhya Rural Schools. With a strong impetus to develop skilled health human resources, the Apollo Hospitals Group has 8 Nursing Colleges, 3 Nursing Schools, 2 Management Institutes and 1 Physiotherapy college and 15 Paramedical Programmes affiliated to State Medical Universities under its two not for profit organizations Apollo Hospitals Educational Trust, Chennai and Apollo Hospitals Educational Research Foundation, Hyderabad. Apollo Hospitals Group has also partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) by establishing a company called Apollo MedSkills Ltd, to Skill middle income and lower middle income youth and make them employable in Health Care Sector. The Group also has plans to set up a mega Apollo Knowledge City campus at Chittoor in the next two years.  

Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad recently performed the first coronary angioplasty in India, using Abbott’s recently launched fully absorbable stent-also called the bioresorbable vascular scaffold (ABSORB – BVS). It is the first drug-eluting, fully bioresorbable device made of polylactide, a naturally dissolvable material commonly used in dissolving sutures. The revolutionary device which is made of dissolvable material and is a natural substitute for the metallic stent, which is being currently used to prop open the artery at the site of blockage after an angioplasty. Unlike a metallic stent which remains in the body for lifetime, absorb-BVS dissolves in due course of time and is therefore devoid of any side effects. The metallic stent being a foreign body sometimes creates side effects and to suppress these side effects the patient has to be on drugs for the entire lifetime . The device similar to a small mesh tube, is designed to open a blocked heart vessel and restore blood flow to the heart. It provides support to the vessel until the artery can stay open on its own and then dissolves naturally over time. Once in place, absorb-BVS leaves patients with a vessel free of a permanent metallic stent and allows the vessel to resume more natural function and movement, enabling long-term benefits. This complex procedure was led by Dr P C Rath, senior interventional cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals and his team of interventional cardiologists namely Dr Manoj Agarwal, Dr B V Purohit and Dr Kripal Reddy. Use of ABSORB BVS begins the mark of a major milestone and is referred as the fourth revolution in interventional cardiology. Dr Rath and his team implanted absorb-BVS on a 35 year male patient, who suffered a massive cardiac arrest ten days ago. He had a 99 per cent block in one of the main coronary vessels (left anterior descending artery). The artery has been cleared of the blockage with a balloon angioplasty and was implanted with the absorb-BVS.  

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, installed a first-of-its-kind cutting edge technology bioMerieux’s MALDI-TOF-VITEK ® MS system in India – a rapidly automated microbial identification system that identifies disease-causing microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi so that correct diagnosis and early treatment is achieved. Dr. Raman Sardana , Senior Consultant (Microbiology) & Additional Director – Medical Services, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “”Over the past decade, new technologies and automated solutions have greatly reduced the amount of time it takes to provide doctors with actionable results in managing infection. The speed of diagnostic laboratory results has a critical impact on curbing the increasing antimicrobial resistance. The rapid identification of microorganisms has been shown to help guide patient treatment and improve clinical outcomes. Waiting several days for a definitive identification of the pathogen provides an obstacle to the clinician seeking to target therapy with the most effective treatment. This is where technologies such as MALDI-TOF-VITEK MS are helpful with their accuracy and specificity.”” With the help of MALDI-TOF-VITEK MS, the type of infection or infections present can be speedily determined, allowing doctors to more specifically target their therapies with the right antimicrobial at the right dosage. This plays an important role in preventing and slowing the emergence of resistant bacteria and fungi which is a much-wanted need in the world today. In the coming months identification of all microbes including virus would be a possibility.  

On World Trauma Day (17th October 2012), Apollo Children’s Hospital dedicated a state of the art trauma care centre to save little lives, Thiru. Rajendran, Additional Director General of Police, Tamilnadu formally inaugurated the centre today. Apollo Children’s Centre for Trauma (ACCT), equipped with high tech medical equipments and expertise (physicians and surgeons across anesthesiology and critical care medicine, emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery and radiology) will provide 24X7 trauma care for children with severe and life threatening injuries. Apollo Chairman, DrPrathap C Reddy and MD Ms Preetha Reddy reiterated the importance of the platinum hour in treatment of injured children. Renowned singer Mano was invited and he enthralled the audience with his mellifluous melodies. Studies reveal that every year around 10 lakh children die due to injuries and a number of them sustain serious injuries requiring hospitalizations, but these can be avoided by offering timely and quality medical assistance. ACCT is one such dedicated pediatric centre which provides multi disciplinary care approach for children with trauma and multiple injuries that require comprehensive care. Pertaining to the fact that children are not mini adults and treatments and medical equipments required for elders do not suffice kids, ACCT is equipped with high tech medical equipments meant to treat childhood trauma. Dr Sankar, Consultant Orthopediacian gave a presentation on the facilities which makes ACH unique in handling child injuries and trauma. ACH is the only trauma centre for children to equip intracranial pressure monitoring to treat severe traumatic brain injury. The centre is facilitated within house blood storage and CT scan facilities, 24 hours Radiology and laboratory services in addition to the special pediatric ambulance service for rapid transfer of children requiring immediate interventions. Speaking about the children’s centre for trauma, Dr. Indira Jayakumar, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Trauma and Emergency, Apollo Children’s Hospitals said, “”According to studies, children who suffer trauma have a better outcome if they receive care in a dedicated pediatric trauma centre. The first hour of trauma in adults is called the “”Golden Hour””, while in children it is called as the “Platinum 30 minutes”” and every minute delay can prove fatal. Hence Apollo Children’s Centre for Trauma is equipped with high tech medical equipments and multi specialty expertise to save lives of children who require emergency care.” She also said, “Medical experts at ACT offer 360 degree care to the little ones through diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up care. ACT will also work towards preventing injury through community outreach programmes to educate the public, parents and children on how to avoid preventable injuries.” As part of Child Injury Prevention Campaign this year, Apollo Children’s Hospital has conducted first aid camps for children, Billion Hearts Beating pledge programmes for kids and Emergency Basic Life Support teaching seminars for teachers. Apollo Children’s Hospital held slogan and painting competitions for school students to create awareness among them on safety measures like fastening seat belts, wearing helmets, avoiding mobile phone and consumption of alcohol while driving, winners were awarded with prizes and certificates during the launch. The painting /slogan writing were organized for children from the following 6 schools 1. Vidyodaya Matriculation higher secondary school 2. Sir Mutha school 3. MCC ,Matriculation School 4. DAV Girls Senior Secondary School 5. Sacred Heart Matriculation higher secondary school 6. Lady Andal The All rounder trophy was won by the students of DAV Girls Senior Secondary School  

Enterprise Asia’s “Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards”” program (AREA), South Asia 2012 has honoured Dr.Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group with the prestigious “”Responsible Business Leader” Award ! The Responsible Business Leader Award is awarded to an iconic individual who is a role model in advocating and promoting all aspects of Responsible Entrepreneurship in building the business. The AREA awards underscore Apollo Hospitals’ efforts in building a culture and environment of compassion and integrity. In its relentless pursuit of excellence, Apollo Hospitals has always held itself to the highest ethical standards and gives paramount importance in building and nurturing a culture of Responsible Practices across every endeavour and initiative.  

Enterprise Asia’s “”Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards”” program (AREA), South Asia 2012 has conferred The Billion Hearts Beating Program with the prestigious “”Health Promotion”” Award 2012 ! The Billion Hearts Beating (BHB) program is an initiative by the Apollo Hospitals Group to create awareness among the people of this country on the risks associated with heart diseases and to motivate them to take the pledge to stay heart-healthy. The Health Promotion Award honors businesses that encourage and promote programmes aimed at raising awareness and improving the health of their direct and indirect stakeholders. The AREA awards underscore Apollo Hospitals’ efforts in building a culture and environment of compassion and integrity. In its relentless pursuit of excellence, Apollo Hospitals has always held itself to the highest ethical standards and gives paramount importance in building and nurturing a culture of Responsible Practices across every endeavour and initiative.  

The Apollo Group of Hospitals, one of Asia’s largest healthcare providers formally announced the launch of its telemedicine service in Yangon on 4th December 2012 Mr Sailesh Thangal, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Yangon, Myanmar inaugurated the telemedicine facility services at the Keen Cie Co Ltd along with Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman Apollo Hospitals Group who was joined by tele link. Speaking on the tele-link, Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman Apollo Hospitals Group said, “”Our mission is to bring healthcare of international standards within the reach of every individual. We are committed to the achievement and maintenance of excellence in education, research and healthcare for the benefit of humanity. With this facility, people of Myanmar can now consult world renowned Indian doctors and get access to quality treatment and latest medical technology without physically going to Apollo Hospitals, India. At the inaugural function, live tele-consultation was demonstrated between doctors of KC Healthcare, Yangon and Apollo Hospitals, Delhi. Apollo Tele-Medicine Network will facilitate ready access to specialists and super-specialists for referrals, consultation, second opinion, reviews, post treatment follow-ups besides facilitating tele-continuing medical education, programmes for the medical fraternity in Yangon. The network will primarily provide Tele-Education, Tele-Medicine, Internet, videoconferencing and VOIP services via satellite and fiber optic network. Overall, this technology aims to boost health care access through effective utilization of information technology.”” said Ms Preetha Reddy Managing Director Apollo Hospitals Group. “”This project will enable us to move to the next level of treatment and will open new avenue for our people to explore latest medical facilities available at Apollo Hospital in real time”” said Dr Kyaw Min, Director of Keen Cie Co. Ltd, Yangon, Myanmar. Prominent experts present at the launch ceremony included Prof Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director Apollo Hospitals, Prof Sandeep Guleria, Renal and Pancreatic Transplant Surgeon, Dr V.P. Singh, Surgical Oncologist, Dr Muthu Jyothi, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Dr Neerav Goyal, Liver Transplant Surgeon from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. For further information, please contact: Dr Kyaw, Min: Apollo Information Center, Keen Cie Co. Ltd. Yangon – +95 973144588  

Apollo Cancer Institutes, an integral part of the Apollo Hospitals Group has joined hands with YOUWECAN, founded by Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh, on December 3, 2012, at Kolkata, with an objective to organize mass Cancer Screening Programs across various locations in India.  

An exclusive center for Bariatric Surgery has been launched at Apollo Hospitals Chennai on 26 November 2012, aimed at holistic healthcare for patients dealing with obesity & metabolic syndromes. Every obese individual’s needs are different and our group of highly trained specialists will analyze and tailor the management protocols that best suits them. With literally all modalities of surgical and non-surgical options available at the Centre, coupled with our enviable safety record, our patients are +indeed assured of a safe journey with us during their weight loss process. With department guidelines based on international standards, we will soon have India’s first integrated theater system for laparoscopy, Robotics, SILS and NOTES surgeries all under one platform, specially designed rooms and patient facilities including cots, chairs and transport devices to help our obese patients have a comfortable experience with us. With a dedicated team of specialists, nursing and support staff, Apollo Bariatric Institute is indeed a world class facility and one of the most advanced Bariatric centers in the country.  

In a first of its kind initiative the e-Educational Services Wing of Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation made available the 2 day Educational Course conducted by the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies to Neurosurgeons in Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Maduraiwho gathered at the auditoriums of the Apollo Hospitals in these cities. The programme consisting of 35 lectures by 20 speakers from 10 different countries included “”How I do it Sessions””. The conference was organized by Apollo Hospitals Bhubaneshwar with Dr.Brig Sahoo, Neurosurgeon as the Organizing Secretary and Mr.Subodh Singh as coordinator. Delivering the inaugural address thro Video conferencing, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy Founder Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group stressed the necessity to keep up to date. Half life of medical knowledge is 4-5 years, he remarked. He complimented Prof. Dr. K. Ganapathy Neurosurgeon and President of ATNF and his team for this innovative effort of providing an international CME programme at various cities and even directly to the doctors’ laptops (the program was also webcast making it available to 38,000 neurosurgeons representing 126 national societies). Apollo Hospitals has during the last three years carried out more than 200 tele grand rounds within the Group. This is in addition to the 260 lectures given to 39 countries in Africa as part of the Pan African eNetwork. About 50 public lectures also have been given to various factory townships thro video conferencing.