Kiren Rijiju Launches Athlete Injury Management System

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on Friday launched the Central Athlete Injury Management System (CAIMS), a first-of-its-kind initiative by the ministry, for streamlining the sports medicine and rehabilitation support offered to the athletes. The core committee of CAIMS includes eminent top-of-the-line experts such as SKS Marya, Dinshaw Pardiwala, BV Srinivas and Shrikant Iyengar. CAIMS aims to provide the best sports injury management support nearest to the athlete's geographical location. It will help to standardize appropriate injury treatment protocol for athletes across the country.

CAIMS will start with support for athletes who are a part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) development group expected to participate in 2024 Olympics and beyond.

Rijiju hailed the move to start CAIMS. "It was long desired by everyone to have a Centralised Athlete Injury Management system in our country," he said.

"I have seen sometimes that even for common injuries, treatment is not done in time which has led to affecting the career of the athlete. Today is a very humble beginning but this will lead to a system where we will have a very professional way of management in the entire handling of the injury of the athlete," he added

Speaking about the importance of the initiative, Secretary (Sports) Ravi Mital said it is imperative to treat sports injuries at right time.

"Sports has become very competitive and when our athletes compete to their maximum to win medals they sometimes get injured. It is imperative to treat these injuries at a right time and in the right way to ensure that our athletes are in the best of health and form," he said.

CAIMS is expected to revolutionise the way athlete injuries are managed and treated. It will have the following four structures: Athlete Wellness Cell, On-Field Sports Medicine Experts, National Resource Referral Teams and a Central Core Team.

SKS Marya, Chairman of the Central Core Team, said CAIMS will go a long way towards overcoming the geographical barriers in treating athlete injuries.

"India is a huge country and our aim is to reduce the geographical and administrative barriers in the management of injuries of athletes," he said.

Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Dhruv Batra also hailed the initiative.

"This is a welcome initiative by the Ministry to develop an injury surveillance system in the form of an Athlete Wellness Cell for the developmental group of TOPS."

"The experienced and multidisciplinary team of sports medicine doctors, physiotherapists, strength and conditioning experts under CAIMS will definitely assist in the guided rehabilitation to achieve timely restoration of optimal form and function," he added.

The event was also attended by Director-General SAI Sandip Pradhan, Secretary-General Indian Olympic Association Rajeev Mehta and many other medical experts.