Tuesday, February 1 2005 16:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Pune: President A P J Abdul Kalam today (Feb 1, 2005) said there was an immediate need for an anti-AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome) vaccine, which should be complementary to the Indian strain of the dreaded disease.

Speaking after inaugurating the 53rd Armed Forces Medical Conference at AFMC in Pune, the President said, "AIDS has different strains and therefore while making anti-AIDS vaccine, having therapeutic application, we should make one which is suitable to treat the Indian strain of the disease".

Kalam said he has been told by the Union Health Ministry that the efforts to make an anti-AIDS vaccine in the country was at an advanced stage.

"The human system is an example of biological evolution", the President said adding that in future the focus would shift from healthcare to health repair with possibility of replacement of damaged organs with ones from the donors becoming a reality.

"One area that needs to be researched is Indians' proclivity towards cardio-vascular diseases. We have to understand this problem genetically", the President said, also expressing concern over the fewer numbers of operations that were being done in India while as many as 2.5 million people were suffering from heart ailments.

Emphasising that research in nanotechnology and stem cells could become the new frontier of knowledge, Kalam said, human gene chip could be used for diagnosis and in the treatment of people suffering from genetic disorders and heart ailments.

He asked the medical fraternity to look into the possibility whether a gene chip and a stem cell combination could be used to treat epilepsy.

Later addressing the medical and nursing students of AFMC, Pune, Kalam said he has been guided by the saying of Saint Thiruvallur (200 BC) that "people who are able to elevate their thoughts through reflection, will be able to achieve what they set out originally as their goals".

The President urged the AFMC Cadets to become doctors with golden hearts and made both the medical and nursing cadets to repeat an oath with him.

"Instead of being afraid of the problems, the medical students should rather try to defeat them. Having a dream is necessary at this young age", Kalam said and also asked them to specialise in some specific discipline of study in medicine.

Calling for a review of the MBBS syllabus, the President said, "I am not happy with the MBBS syllabus because its entire focus is on physiology. Physiology is not a person. Unless a doctor is conversant with physiology and psychology of a person, the patient is not going to respond to the treatment."

He also expressed concern over the Sickle Cell disease that was prevalent in tribal areas of the country to which children in particular were vulnerable.

Saying that India had tremendous potential in herbal farming and research, the President said human genes were unexploited softwares, which held tremendous promise if fully activated.

He also said that by 2020 the capacity of computers would increase by 1000 times. "Therefore, it needs to be seen if machines are going to establish a supremacy over human minds or are we really capable to tackle the challenge being posed by the computers".