The Union Minister on 27 January said the COVID-19 pandemic has revived academic interest in respiratory disorders and the latest advances in pulmonary medicine.

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At a conference, he said pulmonary medicine has emerged as a vital speciality in dealing with a large spectrum of disorders, including morbidity due to air pollution, occupational lung diseases, sleep disorders and obstructive lung disease. Sophisticated lung interventions and critical care have also gained importance in patients with COVID-related complications, the minister said. "While COVID-19 has had diverse implications on different walks of life across the world, as far as the medical fraternity is concerned one of the conspicuous outcomes is that the pandemic has suddenly revived academic interest in respiratory disorders," said, the Minister of State for Personnel.

Medical professionals working in other specialities like diabetology and oncology are also showing keenness to update themselves about the latest advances in pulmonary medicine, the common masses are also seeking more and more awareness about the subject, he said. He, a noted diabetologist, was delivering the inaugural address at the five-day all-India conference 'NAPCON', jointly organised by the National College of Chest Physicians and Indian Chest Society. Congratulating the organisers for holding a conference of such a magnitude with around 100 international faculties and 19 international chest associations, he said, it is taking place at a time when the world has gone through devastation caused by respiratory and lung complications resulting from COVID. The medical fraternity is working day and night to arrive at new conclusions about how to control and prevent the the disease, the minister said.

The conference on pulmonary medicine being held in India also assumes significance because the country has successfully rolled out the world's largest vaccination drive against COVID-19, he said according to a Personnel Ministry statement. He said because of the preemptive and decisive approach of the Prime Minister, India has been able to face the COVID-19 challenge more successfully and decisively than several western countries with smaller populations. He expressed satisfaction that besides COVID-19 and tuberculosis, the scientific programme of the conference lists topics of contemporary concern like pulmonary critical care, pulmonary imaging, air travel related issues, thoracic and surgical intervention. The minister said he was particularly pleased to note that there are going to be sessions devoted to environment pollution and climate change which are the issues about which the Prime Minister has been expressing views which are seriously acknowledged across the world.