Hyderabad: Dr Soma Raju of Care Foundation, who had worked very closely for over three decades with Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on Monday said, “He was my mentor and great friend.” The duo also worked together at a social level helping out poor patients via the Care Foundation.
Dr Raju said, “I spoke to him about three weeks ago when he had referred some poor patients from Tamil Nadu for treatment. He was a great human being and worked for the good of all.” Dr Raju said they were friends for 25 years. It dated back to the days when he worked at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr Kalam was in Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Dr Kalam was also one of the directors of Care Hospitals for a long time. Dr Raju said, “We worked very closely on the Kalam-Raju stent where cost-effectiveness was the main goal. Over 522 implants had been successfully carried out between 1997 and 2001.” Dr Raju says, “He was a simple man and believed in simple living. People must learn from him.”
In 2012, the duo worked on the concept of indigenous tablet PC for healthcare workers in primary health centres in rural areas. Dr Raju said, “Our aim was to equip the health care workers like aayas, anaganwadi workers with a ‘rugged tablet’ capable of performing a host of medical processes in villages.
