Srinagar, Oct. 15 -- Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha, on Wednesday underscored the need for bridging the gap in access to medical facilities and tools in urban and rural areas. Sinha said this while hailing the Government Medical College, Srinagar, for organising a conference on "Advancing internal medicine: From evidence to excellence in clinical practice". The LG highlighted the emerging healthcare challenges in the union territory and the country. "While infectious diseases remain a concern, lifestyle-related disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, fatty liver disease and cardiovascular ailments are assuming epidemic proportions. We need to ensure that advances in diagnostics, therapeutics and medical technologies reach physicians and patients in rural and remote areas as effectively as they do in urban centres," he said. Sinha also called upon the medical fraternity to strengthen indigenous research and generate evidence relevant to India's diverse population. He said that the country's demographic diversity, combined with the expertise and commitment of doctors, presents immense opportunities for scientific discovery and innovation. "Medical science is making historic advances, and new drugs and diagnostic tools have opened up new possibilities for treatment. The greatest need today is to ensure that these innovations are not available only to physicians in large cities, but also reach doctors in villages. We must ensure that there is not even the slightest gap between urban and rural areas in access to facilities and available tools," he said. The LG outlined a five-year roadmap and proposed six key commitments for the medical community....