In Search of Health Care for the People

I have seen many people who constantly keep feeling that they have done nothing in life. They feel the constant need to learn something new. Especially when they see someone else effortlessly doing a task that he/ she has not learnt. For e.g. one of my friend always feels that she needs to learn driving. She has a car & also a bike at home which is used by some of her male family members. So when we both were travelling back home one day, by my chauffeur driven car, she saw a female police, driving a bike. And she then thought that she too must learn to ride a bike some day. I too, many a times feel that I should constantly be doing things that would enlighten my minuscule name. I keep writing many things and I think I will be become famous one day & be recognized.

The readers have to understand one thing from the 2 examples given above. Both me & my friend have the desire to learn & do something. But we both lack a common thing - EFFORT.

Just thinking does not help. Constant efforts are always needed to if you want to achieve something. And the best example to prove the above point is Dr. Abhay Bang.

Seth G. S. Medical College & K. E. M. Hospital was founded on 22 January, 1926. The twin institute completed 90 years of its life in the year 2016. The foundation day gives a platform to loads of talented students, teachers & non-teaching staff to show case their talent. In the 92nd year, on the 2nd day of the foundation day, celebrations, Dr. Manu V. L. Kothari Chair of Medical Humanities organized a lecture titled, 'In Search of Health Care for the People' by Dr. Abhay Bang. And, I actually got thrilled when I heard him.  

When I heard him, I couldn't agree less, a doctor is an artist. When a person hears the word artist, they typically imagine some actor, painter, dancer etc. But when a person imagines a doctor or a medical student, most of the times the imagination seems to be quiet boring. The medical student is imagined to be constantly reading & the doctor is imagined to be manually working & treating patients day & night. But for all those who have some idea about medicine, they would agree to some extent that Medicine as a profession is an art. Right from talking to the patient, to examining him/ her, to treating him/ her, everything is artistic. When a person enters medicine, his/ her journey, till he/ she acquires the degree & starts practicing, teaches the person to be utmost patient with everything that person deals with, personally & professionally. .

Dr. Abhay Bang recalled to the audience, his artistic experiences. Which the audience felt quiet thrilling.

He lives & works tirelessly in a well known district of Maharashtra - Gadchiroli. Mainly famous for its Naxalite & Maoist activities. But then, you know, he is not among those people, like the ones I mentioned in the 1st para, to just keep thinking. He thinks, surveys & then works for implementation.

During his initial days of practice at Gadchiroli, he found a small girl of 8 - 10 years with a protruding abdomen. He then thought of investigating the cause only to find out that the girl was suffering from Sickle Cell Anemia. He then collected blood samples from 6000 villagers to find that many of them had Sickle Cell traits. He thought, lets help the villagers by providing them with medical help for Sickle Cell traits & anemia. But then he & his wife Dr. Rani Bang, met with a most surprising outcome. The government helped them by starting a Sickle Cell Center but the center was started in Pune. A center for the tribal people of Gadchiroli, in Pune. He he he he. And the second surprise was that even the locals of Gadchiroli were not interested in Sickle Cell disease.

So as the realization dawned on both docs, they changed the strategy. Voting being the easiest for any person, they made different ballot boxes with names of different common diseases. The locals were then asked to caste their vote. When the results came out, they realized, Malaria, diarrhea, backache, TB etc were the main concerns of the villagers.

The frequent deaths of the newborns in the villages were also a big concern for them. Most of the newborns died due to pneumonia, infections contracted at birth due to unhygienic delivery practices & newborn care. With the lack of even the most basic diagnostic facilities like X - Ray, he developed a simple device to measure the respiratory rate of the new born & the infant. The device was simple to operate, specially designed for the illiterate mothers who could barely count till the number 12. This would help the mothers to diagnose a probable disease of pneumonia & thus the treatment would start fast.

He also trained some local females from almost all villages, who had studied to a certain level. Say till 6th or 7th in school. These helpers also had a somewhat high level of motivation. And then they were trained how to give antibiotics like Ampicillin and Gentamicin. They were also trained how to provide NICU facilities to the newborns in their homes by providing a kit containing the necessary equipment's.

Dr. Abhay Bang had once asked the villagers, that why don't they go to the district hospital made by the government especially for the villagers. The answer he got was interesting.
1. It is very far. To travel 300+ kms, during an emergency in a bullock cart is not possible.
2. The hospital has tall buildings & big corridors. We feel scared & lost.
3. The doctors feel that they are GOD's. How can that be the case? There is only one God. And the God that we believe in is definitely not the doctor.
4. And the most interesting reason - the doctors & the paramedical staff, all keep roaming in white cloths. They look like dead bodies.

I agree to what Dr. Abhay Bang feels. All the hospitals are designed for the convenience of the doctors & the paramedical staff. At one go, the doctors can see the patients in ward & then conveniently leave for the next intended destination. But then, as he is the ideawala dev. I name him so. He opened a hospital were the patients were housed in a home style hut with facilities for the relatives to stay. So the patient is conveniently housed with his/ her relatives who are apparently the major caretakers.

He also realized that, tobacco & alcohol addiction is a major problem. The villagers, who apparently struggle in their day to day lives, spend crores of rupees acquiring & consuming tobacco & alcohol, the amount when calculated was even more than the amount the government spends in these areas for the de-addiction programmes. And the most stunning facts were that small children & even the police were addicted. He is actively involved in helping reduce this problem too.

He aptly says, do research, not on the people but for the people. Do research, not to gain name & fame, but for the benefit of the society. Everything else just follows.

So, dear readers, there are people like Dr. Abhay Bang, who do immense work for those uncountable people in just 1 life time. And then most people like me just keep thinking for just years & years. Hope my message is clear.  

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