Dr Anil Purran – Former Chief Medical Officer Mauritius
Obituary
Dr Anil K Purran passed away on December 20,2023, aged 86, after a short illness. He was born at Chemin Grenier as the second child of a family of nine children. After his secondary schooling at St Andrews College, Rose Hill, he worked there as a teacher for three years before proceeding to Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, for his medical studies. He graduated with an MBBS degree in 1965 and took up employment at the Ministry of Health upon his return.
Like several colleagues at the time, he specialized in anaesthesia in Liverpool, UK, obtaining theFellowship of the Faculty of Anaesthesia of the Royal College of Surgeons (FFARCS) in 1970.
He was posted along with other newly returned specialists at the recently commissioned SSRN Hospital, Pamplemousses. I had joined the hospital in 1972 and like him and Dr K. Gajadharsingh, the general surgeon with whom I was working, we were staying in the hospital quarters, where also resided the first Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, Dr Jugdish Mohith. This gave all of us an occasion to socialize, besides interacting in the Operation Theatre at the hospital where he used to do Dr Gajadharsingh’s operation list.
There were other colleagues too on the campus, among whom the late Dr Laval Appapoulay whose son David and Dr Purran’s daughter Saloni, used to play together. When I returned as specialist in 1980, again as SSRNH, Dr Purran was then the Medical Superintendent, but thorough clinician that he was he could not stay away from practising his art – administering anaesthesia when his skills were required. I recall a complex case of surgery of the lumbar spine in an 18-year-old boy whom he anaesthetised, and as we were about to begin, he told me, ‘don’t worry, I have all the time in the world,’ knowing as he did that this was going to be a long case – almost four hours when I was finally done.
He was later appointed as Principal Medical Officer (PMO) responsible mainly for Planning and Human Resource Development and became involved in the setting-up of various major Health Programmes namely, Primary Health Care services,cardiac surgery SSRNH with the assistance of Prof Raffa, Prof Céréne, and Prof Saxena from Saudi Arabia, France, and India respectively.
Appointed as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in 1989, he played an important role in the planning, design, and construction of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital (JNH) at Rose Belle as well as the introduction of haemodialysis service in the public hospitals. He was also a member of the Senate of the University of Mauritius and a member of the first Medical Council of Mauritius.
After retirement in 1997, he was awarded OSK for his contributions in the medical field. Later on, he successively acted as Commissioner at the Public Service Commission and as member of the Central Procurement Board, as well as of the Senate of the University of Mauritius. He had also been President of the medical and dental union, GMDOA.
He will be fondly remembered as a self-made man and man of culture (being a life member of Arya Sabha). He was passionate about orchids which he cultivated along with other plants and flowers.
He and his wife Indira (born Manraj), who was a teacher, had the pain of losing their son Ashwin in a tragic road accident in 1996.
We offer our deep condolences to the bereaved family and relatives, and their near and dear friends.
RNG
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 2 February 2024
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