The Sports Injury Centre (SIC), Safdarjung Hospital, under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here today, in the presence of Union Health Secretary, Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava and the Secretary, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Hari Ranjan Rao.

The MoU marks a significant milestone in strengthening institutional collaboration for delivering comprehensive sports medicine and healthcare services to athletes and support staff associated with the Sports Authority of India. The Sports Injury Centre, Safdarjung Hospital, is India's premier tertiary care centre dedicated exclusively to sports medicine, arthroscopy, sports injury management, rehabilitation, and sports sciences. The Sports Authority of India plays a pivotal role in nurturing sporting talent and developing world-class athletes across the country.

This collaboration brings together the clinical expertise of SIC and the extensive athlete support network of SAI to establish a comprehensive and coordinated model of athlete healthcare. The partnership aims to enhance the quality of sports injury prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and sports science support, thereby enabling athletes to achieve and sustain peak performance. Beyond clinical care, the MoU also envisages collaboration in the fields of sports science, medical education, capacity building, training, and research. Both institutions will jointly undertake research initiatives aimed at developing innovative treatment protocols, advancing injury prevention strategies, promoting evidence-based sports medicine practices, and fostering scientific innovation to improve athlete health and performance.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Health Secretary, Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava, underlined the collaboration as a significant step in contributing to India's journey towards sporting excellence. She extended all possible support from the Ministry from the healthcare perspective and described the MoU as the beginning of a long-term partnership between the health and sports sectors.

Observing that athletes are spread across the country, Smt. Srivastava assured that the Ministry would examine ways to expand the network of sports medicine facilities and strengthen postgraduate education in sports medicine to build a larger pool of trained specialists. She also emphasised that along with athlete healthcare in orthopaedic injuries, the Ministry would explore support for other specialised health requirements by identifying relevant medical disciplines and engaging institutions such as NIMHANS wherever required for collaborative work and specialised care.

Smt. Srivastava further extended support to encourage the newer AIIMS institutions to develop sports medicine facilities and prioritise athlete healthcare services. She underlined the need to identify priority areas for research that can improve athlete performance, particularly in domains where sports medicine is still evolving and specialised services remain limited. Appreciating the work already undertaken by the Sports Injury Centre and the Sports Authority of India, she assured that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would extend its full support to strengthen research, institutional collaboration and specialised healthcare services for Indian athletes.

In his address, Secretary, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Hari Ranjan Rao highlighted the need to strengthen indigenous research in sports medicine and sports science to better serve the needs of Indian athletes. He observed that many of the existing sports medicine protocols, assessment tools and scientific benchmarks are based on American and Western data, which may not always be suitable for Indian athletes due to differences in body composition and physiology. He stressed the importance of generating India-specific scientific evidence and developing indigenous protocols to support athlete performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Emphasising the need for greater institutional collaboration, Shri Rao sought the support of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in engaging medical colleges across the country in sports medicine. He suggested linking SAI's Centres of Excellence with nearby medical colleges to facilitate specialised medical support, research and training, while also providing opportunities for orthopaedic and other medical specialists to work closely with athletes. He described the MoU as “a significant step towards strengthening research, capacity building and evidence-based sports medicine for the long-term benefit of Indian athletes.”

Dr. Loveneesh G. Krishna, Director General of Health Services, MoHFW; Shri Ram Singh, Secretary, SAI; Dr. Manashvi Kumar, Joint Secretary (Hospitals), MoHFW; Shri Vineel Krishna Ravella, Joint Secretary (Sports), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; Dr. Kavita Rani Sharma, Director, Safdarjung Hospital; Dr. Deepak Joshi, Director, Sports Injury Centre (SIC); Brigadier (Dr.) Bibhu Kalyan Nayak, Executive Director, SAI; and senior officers of the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Youth Affairs and Sports were also present on the occasion.

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