Bhubaneswar: The Central government is in consultation with the Medical Council of India (MCI) and taking steps to revise the syllabus of the MBBS course soon, said Director General of Health Services, Prof Jagdish Prasad.
Addressing a public lecture on 'National Health Programmes' at the SOA University here on Saturday, Prasad said, "The new syllabus may be ready in another one and half years. What is the need to teach a student 10 different surgeries at MBBS level when all they need is to acquire a good knowledge as to how to treat common diseases," he said.
Besides, Prasad stressed the need to have a pharmaco vigilance committee to monitor use of antibiotics in every medical college and said, "Antibiotic resistance is worse than cancer as it cannot be treated."
Leprosy eradication had been largely successful in different states but the problem still persists in Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. As many as 40,000 leprosy cases have been detected so far of which a total of 5100 are from Odisha only, he said.
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Prasad said Odisha, along with Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Meghalaya, accounted for 80 per cent of malaria cases even as the government has drawn up a plan to eliminate the vector-borne disease in the country by 2025.
"Odisha accounts for 40 per cent of the malaria cases and we aim to reduce the incidence in the country by one-third this year," he added.
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Besides, Prasad advised youths to go for regular exercise, yoga and stay away from smoking and alcohol to avoid non-communicable diseases.