In a meeting held in Tarnaka, a team of doctors and public observed the Day and came to the following conclusions.
I. In the past, physical ailments treated with a high emphasis on psycho- somatic inputs and the products available in the Nature. We are, now, very fast and strongly introducing bio-chemical changes in the human body with expanding help of clinical tests and tools. In the course of these changes, the quality of relations between the doctor and the patient are getting neglected and this is leading to hardship and unaffordable costs. A re-definition of their relations as well as institutional framework for them is the need of the hour.
In this context, it is realized that solutions should be sought at the local community level. The concept of social physician with personal links as a family physician or a community doctor is essential for immediate relief and avoidance of unnecessary expenditure on consultations, tests and treatment. Without this discernment, people are impoverishing themselves instead of enjoying the scientific and technological progress we made in the modern medicine. Thus, the need for promoting the concept of local community doctor, a proposal that was already made during the previous observance of these Days, is re-iterated.
A new concept that was particularly stressed this time is the need for medical literacy, in the lines of computer literacy, legal literacy, etc. to cope up with the modern challenges in life as well as to absorb enormous fund of new knowledge that is being made available. This is a match-making between demand and supply.
There are new actors in the social field to arrange for institutional link ups. They are precisely the senior citizens associations, Senior Day Care Centres, Old Age or Retirement Homes, the resident welfare associations, Consumers associations, the Red Cross Society, etc. They can even exercise the watch-dog functions concerning the fake and unqualified doctors, low quality medicines, irregularities in pricing and distribution of medicines, underhand deals between the doctors and the testing laboratories, and with the pharmaceutical firms, etc.
II. The doctor patient relationship is complex in view of the human ecological transition phase which we are passing through as early as in 1946, Sir, Joseph Bhore ,envisaged that doctors of tomorrow “Should be as social physician” the subsequent development of health infra structure since independence, the impact of the market forces, changing value systems, rapid urbanization Health technology boom witnessed, the western influences , availability of diagnostic & curative tools , have all altered to scenario.
While discussing an issue like this, it is imperative to understand the health care providers and health care receivers, have different value systems and are acting and Interacting in a milieu of several pulls and pressures of the market forces.
While it is easy to jump on the band wagon to accuse one or the other among theses two, it is necessary to understand the role that the several welfare associations in an urban area can do for promoting the welfare of their own people who come under their umbrella. While it may not be feasible readily to change individual preferences to go to a particular physician or hospital because it is part of fundamental right it becomes easy to adopt public welfare measures for improving the overall health scenario .Some of the actions that can be contemplated by the associations “ Interest of Public Welfare” can be:
1. School Health Programs: For early detection of Ophthalmic, dermatological, Nutritional, Dental and Communicable diseases among others. This is possible by adopting schools in their area and assigning doctors to do the work.
2. Food Handlers : Today there is mushrooming of eateries both static and mobile and the handlers are many and varied. Compulsory medical and diagnostic test of food handlers prevent amoebiasis, E -coli, Salmonella group of infections and other communicable disease including Syphilis.
3. Water Quality Monitoring: Frequent water sampling and the end user level and analysis at public health laboratory will determine presence / absence of E-coli and other water borne infections and confirm the water chlorination levels.
4. Meat Hygiene : There are several shops selling fish/ Meat & Meat products , effective monitoring of the quality of theses will go a log way in preventing food borne infections
5.Prevention of Food Adulteration : The commitment can check with the help of food Inspectors , grains and ills being supplied for Public consumption in both government and Non government Public sectors .
6.Screening for Prevention of Chronic disease: Simple diagnostics test for presence / absence of Diabetes / B.P/ Renal disorders / Cancer of cervix/ Breast will prevent development of Lung, Heart , Kidneys , neurological disorders at later stage.
Building up of Referral Systems : Health acre services should originate from an area concept as in the case of ration shop , Every family should be attached to an identified local health centre . Theses primary health care centres must be responsible for domiciliary care. These Public Health care are to be attached to an urban health post to be established at a rate of one for 50, 000 population.
One might wonder whether the resident welfare organizations should embark on all or any of the programmes discussed above as they fall under public domain and governmental agencies are charged with these responsibilities. Knowing as to how these agencies perform, the least we can do in our own interest is to do a watchdog function to enforce the activities to be performed in a qualitative way.
The above reflections are evolved through the participation of Dr. Pushpa Hemadri, Sri. Raaghava Reddy, Dr.K.Venkateswara Rao, Dr.Sherifuddin Sheriff, Dr.M.Navaneetha.
In a meeting held in Tarnaka, a team of doctors and public observed the Day and came to the following conclusions.
I. In the past, physical ailments treated with a high emphasis on psycho- somatic inputs and the products available in the Nature. We are, now, very fast and strongly introducing bio-chemical changes in the human body with expanding help of clinical tests and tools. In the course of these changes, the quality of relations between the doctor and the patient are getting neglected and this is leading to hardship and unaffordable costs. A re-definition of their relations as well as institutional framework for them is the need of the hour.
In this context, it is realized that solutions should be sought at the local community level. The concept of social physician with personal links as a family physician or a community doctor is essential for immediate relief and avoidance of unnecessary expenditure on consultations, tests and treatment. Without this discernment, people are impoverishing themselves instead of enjoying the scientific and technological progress we made in the modern medicine. Thus, the need for promoting the concept of local community doctor, a proposal that was already made during the previous observance of these Days, is re-iterated.
A new concept that was particularly stressed this time is the need for medical literacy, in the lines of computer literacy, legal literacy, etc. to cope up with the modern challenges in life as well as to absorb enormous fund of new knowledge that is being made available. This is a match-making between demand and supply.
There are new actors in the social field to arrange for institutional link ups. They are precisely the senior citizens associations, Senior Day Care Centres, Old Age or Retirement Homes, the resident welfare associations, Consumers associations, the Red Cross Society, etc. They can even exercise the watch-dog functions concerning the fake and unqualified doctors, low quality medicines, irregularities in pricing and distribution of medicines, underhand deals between the doctors and the testing laboratories, and with the pharmaceutical firms, etc.
II. The doctor patient relationship is complex in view of the human ecological transition phase which we are passing through as early as in 1946, Sir, Joseph Bhore ,envisaged that doctors of tomorrow “Should be as social physician” the subsequent development of health infra structure since independence, the impact of the market forces, changing value systems, rapid urbanization Health technology boom witnessed, the western influences , availability of diagnostic & curative tools , have all altered to scenario.
While discussing an issue like this, it is imperative to understand the health care providers and health care receivers, have different value systems and are acting and Interacting in a milieu of several pulls and pressures of the market forces.
While it is easy to jump on the band wagon to accuse one or the other among theses two, it is necessary to understand the role that the several welfare associations in an urban area can do for promoting the welfare of their own people who come under their umbrella. While it may not be feasible readily to change individual preferences to go to a particular physician or hospital because it is part of fundamental right it becomes easy to adopt public welfare measures for improving the overall health scenario .Some of the actions that can be contemplated by the associations “ Interest of Public Welfare” can be:
1. School Health Programs: For early detection of Ophthalmic, dermatological, Nutritional, Dental and Communicable diseases among others. This is possible by adopting schools in their area and assigning doctors to do the work.
2. Food Handlers : Today there is mushrooming of eateries both static and mobile and the handlers are many and varied. Compulsory medical and diagnostic test of food handlers prevent amoebiasis, E -coli, Salmonella group of infections and other communicable disease including Syphilis.
3. Water Quality Monitoring: Frequent water sampling and the end user level and analysis at public health laboratory will determine presence / absence of E-coli and other water borne infections and confirm the water chlorination levels.
4. Meat Hygiene : There are several shops selling fish/ Meat & Meat products , effective monitoring of the quality of theses will go a log way in preventing food borne infections
5.Prevention of Food Adulteration : The commitment can check with the help of food Inspectors , grains and ills being supplied for Public consumption in both government and Non government Public sectors .
6.Screening for Prevention of Chronic disease: Simple diagnostics test for presence / absence of Diabetes / B.P/ Renal disorders / Cancer of cervix/ Breast will prevent development of Lung, Heart , Kidneys , neurological disorders at later stage.
Building up of Referral Systems : Health acre services should originate from an area concept as in the case of ration shop , Every family should be attached to an identified local health centre . Theses primary health care centres must be responsible for domiciliary care. These Public Health care are to be attached to an urban health post to be established at a rate of one for 50, 000 population.
One might wonder whether the resident welfare organizations should embark on all or any of the programmes discussed above as they fall under public domain and governmental agencies are charged with these responsibilities. Knowing as to how these agencies perform, the least we can do in our own interest is to do a watchdog function to enforce the activities to be performed in a qualitative way.
The above reflections are evolved through the participation of Dr. Pushpa Hemadri, Sri. Raaghava Reddy, Dr.K.Venkateswara Rao, Dr.Sherifuddin Sheriff, Dr.M.Navaneetha.
In a meeting held in Tarnaka, a team of doctors and public observed the Day and came to the following conclusions.
I. In the past, physical ailments treated with a high emphasis on psycho- somatic inputs and the products available in the Nature. We are, now, very fast and strongly introducing bio-chemical changes in the human body with expanding help of clinical tests and tools. In the course of these changes, the quality of relations between the doctor and the patient are getting neglected and this is leading to hardship and unaffordable costs. A re-definition of their relations as well as institutional framework for them is the need of the hour.
In this context, it is realized that solutions should be sought at the local community level. The concept of social physician with personal links as a family physician or a community doctor is essential for immediate relief and avoidance of unnecessary expenditure on consultations, tests and treatment. Without this discernment, people are impoverishing themselves instead of enjoying the scientific and technological progress we made in the modern medicine. Thus, the need for promoting the concept of local community doctor, a proposal that was already made during the previous observance of these Days, is re-iterated.
A new concept that was particularly stressed this time is the need for medical literacy, in the lines of computer literacy, legal literacy, etc. to cope up with the modern challenges in life as well as to absorb enormous fund of new knowledge that is being made available. This is a match-making between demand and supply.
There are new actors in the social field to arrange for institutional link ups. They are precisely the senior citizens associations, Senior Day Care Centres, Old Age or Retirement Homes, the resident welfare associations, Consumers associations, the Red Cross Society, etc. They can even exercise the watch-dog functions concerning the fake and unqualified doctors, low quality medicines, irregularities in pricing and distribution of medicines, underhand deals between the doctors and the testing laboratories, and with the pharmaceutical firms, etc.
II. The doctor patient relationship is complex in view of the human ecological transition phase which we are passing through as early as in 1946, Sir, Joseph Bhore ,envisaged that doctors of tomorrow “Should be as social physician” the subsequent development of health infra structure since independence, the impact of the market forces, changing value systems, rapid urbanization Health technology boom witnessed, the western influences , availability of diagnostic & curative tools , have all altered to scenario.
While discussing an issue like this, it is imperative to understand the health care providers and health care receivers, have different value systems and are acting and Interacting in a milieu of several pulls and pressures of the market forces.
While it is easy to jump on the band wagon to accuse one or the other among theses two, it is necessary to understand the role that the several welfare associations in an urban area can do for promoting the welfare of their own people who come under their umbrella. While it may not be feasible readily to change individual preferences to go to a particular physician or hospital because it is part of fundamental right it becomes easy to adopt public welfare measures for improving the overall health scenario .Some of the actions that can be contemplated by the associations “ Interest of Public Welfare” can be:
1. School Health Programs: For early detection of Ophthalmic, dermatological, Nutritional, Dental and Communicable diseases among others. This is possible by adopting schools in their area and assigning doctors to do the work.
2. Food Handlers : Today there is mushrooming of eateries both static and mobile and the handlers are many and varied. Compulsory medical and diagnostic test of food handlers prevent amoebiasis, E -coli, Salmonella group of infections and other communicable disease including Syphilis.
3. Water Quality Monitoring: Frequent water sampling and the end user level and analysis at public health laboratory will determine presence / absence of E-coli and other water borne infections and confirm the water chlorination levels.
4. Meat Hygiene : There are several shops selling fish/ Meat & Meat products , effective monitoring of the quality of theses will go a log way in preventing food borne infections
5.Prevention of Food Adulteration : The commitment can check with the help of food Inspectors , grains and ills being supplied for Public consumption in both government and Non government Public sectors .
6.Screening for Prevention of Chronic disease: Simple diagnostics test for presence / absence of Diabetes / B.P/ Renal disorders / Cancer of cervix/ Breast will prevent development of Lung, Heart , Kidneys , neurological disorders at later stage.
Building up of Referral Systems : Health acre services should originate from an area concept as in the case of ration shop , Every family should be attached to an identified local health centre . Theses primary health care centres must be responsible for domiciliary care. These Public Health care are to be attached to an urban health post to be established at a rate of one for 50, 000 population.
One might wonder whether the resident welfare organizations should embark on all or any of the programmes discussed above as they fall under public domain and governmental agencies are charged with these responsibilities. Knowing as to how these agencies perform, the least we can do in our own interest is to do a watchdog function to enforce the activities to be performed in a qualitative way.
The above reflections are evolved through the participation of Dr. Pushpa Hemadri, Sri. Raaghava Reddy, Dr.K.Venkateswara Rao, Dr.Sherifuddin Sheriff, Dr.M.Navaneetha.
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Contact :
S. Bhooma Reddy,
Editor, VOICE OF SENIOR CITIZENS,
207, C-block, 3rd Floor, PBR Estate,
Padma Colony, Nallakunta, Hyderabad-44.
Ph. No: 040-27625209
Mail Id: silvercitizens@gmail.com
* This blog is run by CSR Technosoft, a Hyderabad based IT& ITES firm.
Contact: www.csrtechnosoft.blogspot.com
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