AYUDH Toronto at St. Felix Centre

Chancellor’s Message

“Knowledge is like a river. Its nature is to constantly flow. Wherever it can flow, it does so, nourishing culture. On the other hand, the same knowledge, if devoid of values, becomes a source of destruction for the world. When values and knowledge become one, there can be no more powerful instrument for the welfare of humankind. Today, physicists have even begun investigating the possibility that the essential substratum of the manifest universe and the individual are one and the same.

On the occasion of Amma’s 64th Birthday in Amritapuri, India The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented certificates for totally free surgeries at Amrita Hospital to five onstage beneficiaries. These five individuals were representative of 1,940 economically challenged people receiving such certificates — including 200 recipients of heart surgeries, 70 of neuro surgeries, 20 of kidney transplants, 50 of head-and-neck surgeries, 50 of major gastrointestinal surgeries, 50 of urological and nephrological surgeries, 500 of dialysis treatments and 1,000 of cancer treatments.

“We have a responsibility towards all those suffering from illness and poverty. We need to provide them food, healthcare, and education - the light of knowledge. This is our duty. We all are children from the same mother. We need to realize that we are one and our hearts must be united in love. More than economic or technological revolution, an inner revolution that makes us see others as ourselves is the need of the hour. We must strive to love and serve all.”  ~ Amma

A 13-year-old tribal boy Manikandan, son of plantation workers in Parambikulam, Palakkad, was the butt of ridicule since birth because of a rare medical condition called encephalocele in which brain matter oozes out of gaps in the skull into a sac-like structure, giving the patient’s head a grotesque appearance.

Ever since the first hand transplant in India in 2015, patients from across India and abroad have been lining up at a Kochi hospital, even as more hospitals have registered for the procedure. But only two more transplants have been possible since. The Sunday Express on the taboos, hopes and despair around the procedure

Our own Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Center (AIMS Hospital) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kathmandu-based Association of Non-Government Hospitals (ANGHOS) to establish telemedicine centers linking seven ANGHOS-member hospitals in Nepal with Amrita’s medical experts in India.

The wide-ranging agreement, which also includes initiatives such as a training and exchange programs for doctors, students and nurses, heralds a new era of collaborative healthcare between the two countries.

Burkina Faso, home to a vibrant cultural heritage as well as the largest craft market in Africa, also suffers from massive deforestation, landscape degradation, slow economic development and low life expectancy. As of 2009, there were less than 1,000 doctors in the country—that’s less than one doctor for every 10,000 people.

Our volunteers recognized the country’s need for health care support and decided to address it. The same team that has held multiple eye camps in Kenya and Mexico, treating for cataracts and refractive blindness, decided to go to Burkina Faso.

For the first time in India, Amrita Hospital in Kochi, Kerala has introduced cosmetic heart surgery for children – a procedure that has gained popularity in Europe in the last decade.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone for the Mata Amritanandamayi Math’s new two thousand bed Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre (Amrita Hospital) in Greater Faridabad on May 9, 2016. The ceremony took place in the presence of Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, Vice Chairman of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, and several other dignitaries also graced the occasion.