The way several states including Odisha battled the Covid-19 pandemic and emerged successful must be documented for generation of evidence so that the situation could be tackled effectively if the country faced a similar calamity in future, Dr. K. Madan Gopal, Senior Consultant (Health) of the Niti Aayog, said on Saturday.

Such evidence must then be presented for understanding at different levels at greater speed and should be discussed for better preparedness and management, he said while speaking as the guest of honour at the first Cochrane India Network (CIN) annual meet held at the Institute of Dental Sciences, SOA’s faculty of dental sciences here.

Systematic review of healthcare interventions was of prime importance as was being done by Cochrane Network based on research and evidence, Dr. Gopal said.

Dr. Dibyendu Mazumdar, President of Dental Council of India (DCI) who attended as the chief guest, spoke about the new curriculum developed for dental science education. As per the new curriculum, the students would study for four and half years and then go for one-year internship, he said.

The course would include nine semesters while the students would be trained in comprehensive clinics for better learning and patient ease at each institute, he said adding he was hopeful that the new curriculum would be launched next year.

There were 316 dental colleges under DCI while around 26,000 students were taking admission in those colleges, Dr. Mazumdar said while praising IDS for being ranked 10th in the country though it was started in 2006. Besides, it was the only dental science institute in the country which was among the ten institutes affiliated to Cochrane India Network.

Dr. Ashok Dhoble, Secretary General of DCI, Dr. Anju Pradhan and Dr. Meenu Singh, Co-Chair of Cochrane India Network, also addressed the gathering.

SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, who addressed the meeting, said though WHO had estimated that Covid-19 would cause the death of around 35 lakh people in India, the toll remained much less because of the dedicated effort of doctors, nurses and paramedics who battled the pandemic.

Prof. Neeta Mohanty, Dean of IDS and Director of Cochrane Affiliate Centre, welcomed the guests and elaborated on the work of Cochrane India Network. Reputed institutions including AIIMS, New Delhi, Christian Medical College, Vellore, ICMR, New Delhi, King George Medical University, Lucknow, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, PGI, Chandigarh and Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai were affiliated to Cochrane India Network, she said.