There is one war which does not seem to have an end in sight --- the war against diseases, against physical afflictions which have time and again threatened the very existence of mankind. Man has won many a hard-fought battle --- chicken pox has been eradicated, tuberculosis is no longer life-threatening, malaria is almost under control --- but the battle rages on. Much headway has been made against cancer --- the old enemy --- but it still is a dreaded ailment. Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) hangs overhead like the sword of Democles ready to come crashing down. Mutated germs of common diseases have acquired resistance against old drugs signalling that past-won battles are to be fought all over again.
Medical science has always lived up to and even surpassed the expectations of billions. Throughout the history of evolution of medical science, technology has played a crucial part. There was a time when patients were physically knocked out senseless to spare them the pain of surgery. Anesthesiology put an end to that. Today medical science has machines which can not only read vital medical parameters, of a patient, but also diagnose, treat and perform precise surgical procedures. Technical innovations have indeed come a long, long way.
And Informatics is the latest offering that technology has to make to the field of medical science. Information is vital in medical science, more so because it is a matter of precious lives. Information gaps in this field could lead to drastic consequences. Informatics takes on the responsibility of ensuring a reliable, fast and relevant flow of information touching every nook and corner of the medical profession.
In a country like India, where patients and doctors are very often located in remote and inaccessible areas, that is by no means an easy task. Undeterred, the National Informatics Centre went ahead with its well chalked-out plan to provide relevant information to medical professionals all over the Country. Today NIC provides access to the inexhaustible medical databases of the Medical Literature Analysis, and Retrieval Systems (MEDLARS), created by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) of National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA.
MEDLARS has benefited thousands of medical scientists, researchers, doctors, students and patients alike. The success of this novel project of NIC is evident from the demand of MEDLARS services even in the most remote part of the Country. NICNET has once again played a prominent role in the success of this project.
This issue of Informatics, with its cover story on MEDLARS services of NIC, is dedicated to the man in the white coat who has devoted his life to erasing the sufferings of his brethren.