Natl Med J India
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Historical Article
V.R. Khanolkar's initial years as pathologist and researcher in India: 1924-1941.
Vasant Ramji Khanolkar was the first Indian pathologist and a pioneering researcher who was at the forefront of the diverse fields of cancer research, blood group genetics, epidemiology and leprosy research, etc. in the mid-twentieth century. All his cutting-edge research took place after he joined Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay (now Mumbai), as Director of Laboratories. There is little evidence of his research in the first 17 years of his career in India, at J. ⋯ M. Hospital. Why Khanolkar was a late bloomer and did not perform much research or publish in the first two institutions that he was Professor at, remains a mystery.
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As Covid-19 becomes, for better or worse, an endemic disease, the future of the revolutionary Covid-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) platform needs to be considered seriously. Rather than being made obsolete, the Co-WIN platform can serve as a stepping stone to catalyse a true digital healthcare revolution in India if steps are taken to harness its features and data for varied uses as part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. By bringing these features to other vaccinations, as well as integrating outbreak data from the Integrated Health Information Platform for public knowledge and awareness, disease responses can become faster and more public-driven (rather than government-driven as currently). This will also create a data pool that will be of value in post-vaccination monitoring.