The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will start a 102-bed modern burn care centre at its peripheral hospital by the end of this year. The centre will run on a pilot basis for first six months and will be converted into a full-fledged institute by next year-end.

The centre will have a comprehensive burns unit with 50 beds, which also include 30 isolated beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), for burn patients and an operation theatre. This will also have a 24X7 burn emergency ward along with a skin bank. AIIMS would be the first in the national Capital to have a skin bank for which the infrastructure is all set to be ready by next year.

The information was revealed by the doctors during the launch of new issue of Indian Journal of Plastic surgery (IJPS) on the National Plastic Surgery Day. During the discussion, it also came to the fore that 75 per cent of burn cases in the world are in India. "Currently, there are only 2,500 plastic surgeons spread across the country and 50 medical colleges to train more specialists in the field. Yet the number has been a miniscule for the demand to cater to the population. Unfortunately, most tier-II cities and district hospitals still do not have specialists," said Dr (Prof) Aarti Vij, Chairperson, Media and Protocol Division.