Dear Dr Vijayan and others,
Any establishment tries to hide some fundamental facts from people to attain their selfish gains or hidden agenda. This is true of religion, political parties and other social movements. That is how movements which started as genuine mass movements become another establishment later on. Rarely only one can see a mass movement without any hidden agenda. I do not share the view that doctors are the most greedy, wicked villains in our society. I repeat my earlier statement that there are good, fair and bad individual in any organization or community. There are few popular myths held by malayalis regarding doctors. One is that doctor is next to god. The other is that one should not lie to a doctor or lawyer. Many people repeat this parrot fashion. This could be one reason why doctors are manhandled when a patient dies. If we think we are next to Gods we have to be infallible. But we enjoy the first as it glorifies us and pampers our egos. But we do not want to be beaten up, so we resort to the defence "We are not Gods". I think both these are wrong. A doctor is like a glorified technician. Like the difference between an ordinary cab driver and an aircraft pilot. It is better to be realistic and popularize this view. Obviously humane approach is very important for a doctor.
Regarding government's role: Landlords never willingly gave their excess land to farmers. It was the government who enacted laws and took over the land. Why our Governments are not regulating the drug industry is because the political parties also stand to gain from the mess. That is why whatever Dr Ekbal or others did has not changed anything in our country. Dr Vijayan sounds like a Christian missionary appealing to sinners to repent and return to God with his appeal to the conscience of doctors. What I say is that no such appeal is needed. If one is sure that offences will be booked, nobody (doctor or politician or God men) will dare to violate laws. This is what happened in UK, Australia, USA, New Zealand etc. Everywhere the Governments enacted rules to regulate the practice of medicine. This is their duty, just like the doctors duty to their patients. Why they do not do this is because of their hidden agenda. Dr Vijayan is silent on this and blames individuals for the evils due to failure of the system.
Let me put in another argument, just for arguing. Dr Ekbal and many others were dead enemies of computerization. All of them used to repeat that computerization is a hidden agenda of capitalism etc. But now none of them travel without their laptops. They cannot think of a day without access to Internet. Clearly they were wrong and had missed the bus. Are you sure that they won't swallow their words again ? Will they later realize that private firms are needed to pump in money for drug research ? History of drug research shows that it was a few original workers who contributed to humanity by developing the wonderful drugs we have now. The issue is not to drive away all private participation. The need is for regulatory authority. Only the government can do this. That too only at the national level, by seeking participation and support of the ethically minded minority in the profession. But only honest politicians will dare to do this. There is no point in speaking like religious preachers appealing to conscience.
In conclusion, let me add that I have no intention of defending unethical practices of doctors. Those who are good will regulate themselves, those who are not good, hell is thy abode! I too have started to preach!
ഇന്ത്യ
2 weeks ago
12 comments:
Hi friends,
People do not lie to a doctor because he is in search of an accurate diagnosis.
Nobody has the right to beat another person, even if it is the police.
People consider doctors as next to God, because it seems to them that doctors are capable of saving a person from death. It happens in some cases. Some times, Cesarean helps give life to a baby otherwise dead. It is the God who does these kinds of things in the common people’s concept. So we can not blame them for their (irrational?) belief. Doctors should try to live up to their expectations. To me, affection and love of a few people are more important than money. It can’t be bought with money. We do not forget that we are some sort of puppets in a cosmic ring or beloved children of God. Preaching love and affection is not the right way to deal with born criminals and I do not have any false hope. But some people are receptive and a little bit of goodness are better than nothing. Stop dreaming of what we can’t do, start doing small things that we can.
But I tried, didn't I? God-damn it. At least I did that.
This is a famous pick up line from a movie called One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I want to say the same words in the case of Dr.Ekbal. He may not be successful in every sense but he made some valuable contributions to public, that is already noted by Vijayan and I do not want to repeat it here. What I want to say is
At least he tried!
There are landlords who gave their excess land, some times all of their land, to poor people. I do not remember all names, but you can count people like Jayaprakash Narayanan or EMS. It is an undeniable fact that such people lived here. There are still people living here dedicated to public interest. It is those rare guys who are slowing down the bigger collapse.
A social system is not something that is imported from Mars. In India, it is an unfortunate fact that knowledgeable people are staying away from politics. Pimps get stronger in the absence of good men.
We have seen the failure of USSR. Now the great Americans are under fire. It is neither Capitalism nor Communism that is the problem. A mixed economy of ours is also facing troubles from a global slowdown. Governments came up with good regulations in countries like UK, Australia, USA, New Zealand etc… but doctors did not violate the laws there. It was not possible to violate laws there because people were aware about their rights.
I am a preacher of patient education and social awareness. An ethical practitioner is a better candidate rather than a dumb politician.
A big mass movement is not necessary. Marx or Buddha did not dream big when they started to preach their philosophy.
You talk to your patients, encourage them to get aware of their rights. And enjoy while other unethical practitioners get annoyed. You get a nice sport out of this!
Thank you.
Dear Harish,
It is very true that all Modern ,developed countries have scientific/appropraite/updated rules regulating medical practice and drug industry and very effefient mechinery for effective implementation .
This old colony of Great Briton is in the process of evolution , to a mature democratic country with people who respect law of land.
We have more than enough number of problems (like uncontrolled population growth,poverty,illiteracy,lack of drinking water ,poor sanitation etc....) and very less resources at hand.
Anyway "stop preaching and ... " appears not as a good option for doctors ,especially when we have lot of issues in our profession and few who are interested in public medicine.
In a democratic country,we are all part of the government and are responsible for the quality of our politics /good or bad.. citizen of another country will not come to improve the quality of our politics!.
We should not use the interest of a doctor in politics as a shameful act and should not use it to harm him...we can agree/disagree on issues.
Also we can keep away from politics to maintain our image clean.
THe use of Internet in medicine,artifial intelligence etc where the pet topics of Dr.B Ekbal,he (and Dr .Aravindan )was the pioneers amoung doctors who used it very effectively for information & had published articles on these topics in Medial journals..before being expelled from Indian Medical Association. I believe Dr.Harish's comment on his understanding/proclaimed stand on Computers is wrong/not based on facts.
But it is not very important.
I totally agree with your comments on the hidden agenda of Governments..what ever be the colour of Government..!
A Political worker with a good track record in the field of public health/already has a vision for the state , can do wonderful things as HEALTH MINISTER ,for the health people. (during his tenure as health minister).
In our state ,the criteria for the post of Health Minister,( who is the most important person as far as the Govt.mechinery /policy of our Govt. is considered)is an enigma.! This single act of irresponsibility by the successive democratically elected Govts.makes Harish's indignation valid !
Is there a minister for health !?
It is indeed true that there are good, fair and bad men in all walks of life. Some may have done excellent things and got recognition, but many others do excellent things and remain anonymous. The good acts done by both these groups are good. But in our country, especially in Kerala, the ultimate reality is your political affiliation. You may be good, but you only stand a chance of getting projected if you have the right political affiliation. Sadly now a days, the converse is becoming MORE true. That is - if you are an affiliate of our political party / group /subgroup / miniscule fraction, then you are GOOD and GREAT. Otherwiswe you are BAD and not needed.
WHAT WE NEED IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE (AND DOCTORS) WHO ARE WILLING TO JUDGE ANY MATTER WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE POLTICAL AFFILIATION OF THE PERSON INVOLVED. I do not wish to discuss any specific indiviuals. I just want you to remind that the opposition to computers were in line with that of their political bosses. Later everyone joined the IT bandwagon.
These days a lot of my time is spent on educating the public about mental health, mental illness and their treatments. So I fully support the view that doctors have to take a lead role in public education and awareness. Even this blog was intended to be such an activity. Though it is not fully serving such a need, I am happy that it is catering to another real need and has carved a space for it. Thank you.
Dear Harish,
As we have lot of other issues in the field of health ,for the time being I agree to leave the topic of politics/physician for the sake of other similar important issues.....( I feel you percieve politics only as an ugly thing/ politicians are bad/have hidden agenda/ and all good/sensible doctors/people should keep away from politics..
I preferred to discuss issues and not the politics of the doctors/individuals!...................
But I still agree with the statement made 2400 years ago by Aristotle "man is basically a political animal". and I dont think now kerala politics has something unique to be afraid of!!..
Thank you..
Dear dr vijayan,
We can speak of 'party politics' which is the main stream politics in India now, practised by 'professional politicans' who have the backing of organized parties. They are similar to organized religions in many ways. They have their own hidden agenda, they are mostly concerned with how to grab power in the next elections, whenever there is an election. We can also speak of 'politics beyond parties'. Here it can only be issue based support. None of the organized parties - left, right or center - are happy about public becoming empowered to do this. They want to 'catch them young'. For this student and youth wings are floated. The Calicut medical college camopus sees clashes between groups of students every year, just because they cannot tolerate any opinion different from their's.I know you are a skeptic when it come to religious belief. But I am surprised why you do not have such skepticism about the ways of our political parties, as they operate now! As you said we shall leave this discussion for now and focus on issues directly concerned with health.
Dear Dr Vijayan and others.
In our discussions based on previous posts, I have tried to highlight the fact that conventional political parties only project people who have joined their ranks. Any body who does good work fails to get recognition for the reason that he or she is not their supporter.
I am not interested in discussing about individuals. But to clarify my stand, I am giving the example of the Institute of Palliative Medicine in Calicut. This center had very humble beginnings and gradually established itself as a center of international repute in the field of palliative medicine with recognition from the World Health Organization. The main individual behind all this achievement is Dr. K. Sureshkumar. His vision and effort has transformed the lives of several thousand patients afflicted with cancer and other terminal illnesses. The Network Neighborhood in palliative care has been a a model to be copied anywhere in the world. But he has not got due recognition from the successive governments or political parties as he is not very keen to associate with them. He has done more in the public health field of Kerala than, the big names cited by Dr Vijayan. Just because he is skeptical of the parties, they ignore him.
This (and other similar situations) is what I meant when I said about the hidden agenda of political parties.
Thank You
Will Medical Tourism worsen the already broken up health budget of Malayalees?
India's National Health Policy declares that treatment of foreign patients is legally an "export" and deemed "eligible for all fiscal incentives extended to export earnings." Government and private sector studies in India estimate that medical tourism could bring between $1 billion and $2 billion US into the country by 2012. The reports estimate that medical tourism to India is growing by 30 per cent a year. - CBC News
Most estimates claim treatment costs in India start at around a tenth of the price of comparable treatment in America or Britain. India is becoming the destination of choice for US citizens seeking complicated, high-end medical procedures.
glarclesMedical tourism..
Fortunatly, Health of a community depends more on Factors other than the number of medical consultants working or the star hospitals that is errected in that locality....Our state , kerala is a fine example..
One of the important
variable is Economic status;
and paradoxically , percapita income of Kerala is low compared to many 'unhealthy' states of India..!
A vibrant economy is always good for any community and more so for the health of it's members....though money alone will not bring health!
A finacially strong Kerala will help us to consolidate the successes we ve achieved in the field of health ;
and we have no valid reasons to deny a potentially good source of income (for a finacially poor society) .
Today in Kerala We have surplus specialised Medical personnel / expertise and large number of poor people who can not "purchase" their skill!( which is a real dangerous to the society...can compoud the existing unethical practice to new height!..who are not willing to serve the villages) ..thanks for the unplanned & regular enhancement of medical seats/foolish selection criteria..If medical tourism become a reality it could transform the "surplus products" of our self financing medical colleges into useful productive citizen , earning much needed foreign currency!! ? A blessing in disguise.!
With the current economic recssion, the poor citizens of the affluent countires will flock to India for repairing their bodies and souls. But I doubt the prospects of medical tourism.
The current fancy of allowing medical and engineering colleges has two aspects. One is the need of political parties to fill up their cash chests. Another is the blind aspiration of most of us to make our children either doctors or engineers.
But the next level of this is that 'A doctor / engineer in US or Uk' is more prestigious than one in Gulf or India. The governments have the duty to cater to this need as well. Hence our leaders should take steps to ensure that Indian professionals have some reservation for employment in foriegn countries. Such a step can ensure a few more votes, They can also take a commission from the huge salsry earend abroad.
Thanks
Dear friends,
It is logical to assume that the ruling parties are accepting money from Pharmaceutical companies and medical organizations so they have difficulty coming up with a policy in public interest.
Rules and regulations are necessary but it will be violated without awareness, as it happened in the cases of sound pollutions, public smoking, helmet usage or speed limits on the road. At least a basic awareness is required to know that there is a law to help us!
It is a new trend in our health care to recommend Yoga and Meditation. Yoga is good as a stretching exercise and meditation helps to calm down some individuals. Studies are popping up to show the benefits of meditation and yoga every day. Most of the studies are done on very small sample sizes and we need consistent repeatable results.
I want to remind you of that the current in trend in Naturopathy, Yoga and Meditation is neither a continuation nor a revival of Indian tradition. It is imported from the US and it was their desperate attempt to escape from their own self induced stressful life style.
Now we have courses for “art of living” and “how to make friends”. There are also courses to train in laughter and smiling. It is a new promising industry without a huge investment.
In traditional Indian yogic sciences, the benefit of yoga is described as follows:
sitting, lying or standing in a particular position, you can concentrate your blood flows in a particular region of the body and it will then enhance the power of those particular areas. The excess of blood that you hold for 3 or 5 minutes will enrich your specific body parts. If you stand upside down (seershasanam), the blood flow will increase to your brain and results in better brain capacity, intelligence and awareness. In pranayama, special breathing patterns are used to enhance the absorption of oxygen.
The doctors who are preaching Yoga are educated in Anatomy and Physiology. I think it is neither special interest nor ignorance of doctors but they are manipulated by the new promising industry to advocate in their favour. The influence of media, advertising and new marketing strategies are doing wonders in human thinking.
Walking, running or swimming was the advices 2 or 3 years ago. Once, a doctor told my friend to join ‘art of living course’ for his piles. Yoga can be used as a stretching exercise but it is better to avoid this word as it implies further dumb ideas.
Share your valuable views.
Thank you.
Medical seats/courses;
To me the no.one reason for foolish/disasterous decisions is the ignorence of the ministry....Their basic understanding regarding the subjects under their Ministry is poor...
Solution:The MINSTER should be 'literate' ....
Yoga:
To me not worth discussing..we have many other important issues to discuss!
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