Hyderabad: The two-day Manthan festival started in the city on Friday as part of which discussions on corruption, and initiatives against it were discussed. While a group of young individuals going by the name of Proud Indians spoke about their 5,000-km padayatra from Kanyakumari to New Delhi, another set of participants – doctors and health activists –spoke of how deep rooted corruption was in healthcare.
Speaking on ‘Can you trust your doctor’, Dr G N Rao, founder of L V Prasad Eye Institute, said that “greed” within the medical community was the root cause for malpractice and corruption. “Corporatization of the healthcare sector has led to shareholders demanding quick returns on investment and this pressure is also the reason for corruption,” he said. Dr Rao urged people to choose a hospital that practices medicine in accordance with the ethics of the profession. “It is possiblefor a medicalinstitution to survive without being corrupt, provided that it withstands difficulties and delays,” he added.
The speakers at the festival, included neurologist Dr Sriram Chandra and writer and activist Chandana Chakrabarti. Defending doctors, Dr Sriram Chandra said, “Medicine is an inexact science. Therefore, it is imperative on the doctor that he recommends tests to dispel doubts.” Encouraging citizens to buy health insurance, Dr Chandra saidthatitis very important to look after one’s health and that health requires the utmost priority.
Pointing to the fact that corruption has reached the highest echelons, Chakrabarti said how top officials of bodies such as the Medical Council of India too have been found to be corrupt. “It is no surprise that there is little regulation of medical bodies and institutions,” she said. Chakrabarti said that practitioners of the once noble profession are nowlooked atwith mistrust. “Kickbacks are offered by pharmaceutical companies to doctors who prescribe patients medicines produced by them,” she said. “Fleecing of the patient is rampant in hospitals, diagnostic labs and nursing homes. The lack of transparency in billing forces patients and their families to shell out any sum demanded by the hospital because they’re unaware of terms employed by hospitals for illnesses and medicines,” she said.
The first day of the festival concluded with a discussion on Manthan,whichis a forum for public discourse and invites leaders from various fields to participate in high quality debates periodically.
No comments:
Post a Comment