Dr (Padamshree) Jagdish Prasad

Born in Seetalpur, West Bengal, Dr Jagdish Prasad comes from a humble family. Still, the socio-economic disadvantages in which he was born and brought up could not obstruct his talent and ability to grow into a gifted cardiac surgeon and a brilliant administrator. After getting an MBBS degree in 1977 and MS in general surgery in 1981 from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, he did his M.Ch. in Cardiac Surgery from the prestigious King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital and SGS Medical College, Bombay University. This was followed by extensive research, teaching, and clinical experiences in various medical institutions in India and abroad.

He joined Safdarjang Hospital as a Cardiac Surgeon in October 1986 . The UPSC selected him directly as a Senior Cardiac Surgeon in 1988, and he was promoted to Director-Professor in 1991. He successfully utilised a multi-dimensional approach to simplify cardiac procedures, significantly reducing the cost of cardiac surgery.

In recognition of his pioneering work providing the benefit of open-heart surgery to poor patients at a much lower cost, he was awarded Padma Shree in 1991 . From September 1985 to December 2018, he held the position of Chief Cardiac Surgeon. During this period, he was a guide to M.Ch. Resident surgeons training in CTVS.  He has trained at many cardiac centres around the world. He worked with Dr Dudley Johnson in Milwaukee, USA, in 1992.  He trained with Dr Denton Cooley in 1993 at Texas Heart Institute, USA.  In 1998 he worked with Dr Antonio M. Calafiore in Italy.  He was one of the pioneers to start off-pump CABG in India in 1998. He was one of the first surgeons to perform awake CABG under spinal anaesthesia. He also attended the prestigious hospital management program at Singapore university. He recently went on an observership to Leipzig Heart Centre, Germany, to participate in minimally invasive cardiac surgery and TAVI. He has operated on various cases, including OPCAB, minimally invasive valve surgeries, and congenital heart diseases at Safdarjang Hospital.

The Director General Health Services, Dr. Jagdish Prasad lighting the lamp at the Symposium cum Exhibition on the theme “Dialogue with Organs - A Stepping Stone to Adolescent Health”, at Safdarjung hospital, in New Delhi

The contribution of Dr Prasad to the field of medical education and research is equally commendable. He was promoted to Head of the institution of Safdarjang Hospital in 2000. To meet the increasing demand for medical education and utilise the facilities available in the hospital, he successfully established the Vardhman Mahavir Medical College at Safdarjang Hospital in 2001, of which he was the founder principal and director. He made another valuable contribution to the nursing field by establishing a College of Nursing at Safdarjang Hospital. It is Dr Prasad. It was instrumental in preparing the blueprint for the Redevelopment Plan of the Safdarjung Hospital.

Since then, he has not looked back and has worked tirelessly to provide more specialised medical facilities to ordinary people.  He developed the nucleus of the Cardiac Surgery Wing into a full-fledged National Institute of Cardiac Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at Safdarjang Hospital.  By utilising the beating heart coronary artery bypass graft technique, he minimised hospital stays and related morbidity. This has proved a boon for thousands of heart patients with disadvantaged backgrounds who cannot afford to go to private hospitals to treat their heart ailments.  During his tenure as the Medical Superintendent of Safdarjang Hospital from 2000 to 2003 and again from June 2007 onwards, he brought about radical changes in the functioning and outlook of the hospital. He was instrumental in making the national level Sports Injury Centre.

The Director General Health Services, Dr. Jagdish Prasad addressing at the Symposium cum Exhibition on the theme “Dialogue with Organs - A Stepping Stone to Adolescent Health”, at Safdarjung hospital, in New Delhi

He developed the state-of-the-art super-speciality block and the new emergency block in Safdarjung Hospital.  He also set up the v super-speciality wings, upgraded the facilities in various departments, and provided modern and up-to-date equipment.  He brought about a remarkable improvement in sanitation, general upkeep, the supply of medicines, and storage. He was instrumental in making cardiac surgery, angiography and angioplasty, and dialysis available to poor patients free of cost. He motivated, guided, and disciplined the officers and staff to perform their duties diligently and with a higher sense of commitment.  The salutary effect of his efforts resulted in a changing work culture, which has been evident from the fact that the Hospital, with the same workforce and bed capacity, is now providing better medical care to a much larger number of patients.  The way he has transformed the country’s most prominent Safdarjung Hospital into one of the best-administered government hospitals, clinically and administratively, is a living testimony of his skills and capabilities to manage things both at micro and macro levels.  

He was elevated to Additional Director General of Health Services and posted in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.  He was promoted to Special Director General of Health Services in July 2011. Later, he took over as Director-General of Health Services in December 2011 and stayed till 2018. As Director-General of Health Service, he has brought many changes in National Health Programmes and their implementation in the country. He has changed the strategy and treatment of leprosy, kala-azar, and filaria, resulting in these diseases being on the verge of elimination. Guinea worm, polio, and yaws have been completely eradicated from the country during his tenure. He was instrumental in changing the treatment protocol of the tuberculosis programme. A new drug was introduced for MDR tuberculosis, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality, projected to bring down the incidence of tuberculosis to nearly zero levels in the coming 7 to 10 years. For the cardiac surgery community, he made it compulsory to have a heart team, including a cardiac surgeon and an interventional cardiologist, to manage patients undergoing TAVI for optimum management of patients.

He is a true visionary, and his contribution to cardiac surgery and India's healthcare system has been beyond commendation.

(Prof.) Jagdish Prasad launching the Technical and Operational Guidelines on “Screening For Syphilis During Pregnancy” at a National Workshop, organised by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)

References

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