Friday 15 February 2013

Coca Cola, Pepsi have Reached to Rural India but Healthcare has not

What is the current status of Indian healthcare?
We have over 15 lakhs of deficient doctors, nurses and paramedical staffs in the country. 80 percent of the country’s healthcare is being taken care of by the private sector and 20 percent of the people are living in urban areas who are getting healthcare. Fact is that Coca Cola, Pepsi have reached to rural India but healthcare has not yet. Government says, doctors are not willing to go and work in rural areas. But there are young interns going to Saudi Arabia for two years to work in primary healthcare. If these young interns are ready to go to Saudi Arabia for two years, he should be ready to go to rural areas provided you give them the same facility. In Saudi Arabia they get tax free salaries, so if they get similar kind of offerings like free accommodation with free food and tax free salaries income then the entire scenario would have changed.
 
How to improve the scenario?
One is compulsory insurance for everybody. Today if you can’t drive your car without insurance, then how can you take your body out without any insurance. Government should help people who can’t afford a health insurance. Instead of opening new hospitals, Government should pay for the health insurance for people who can’t afford. In buying insurance, Government should encourage a system where the insurance buyer for example a farmer can offer potatoes to buy health insurance. Government can take this potato and sell it and pay back the insurance seller on behalf of the farmer. For people under below poverty line, Government should be able to pay the insurance money.

India needs five lakh more doctors, 10 lakh more nurses, 64 lakh more paramedics and 7.5 lakh more beds. It is only possible by building more private and Government medical educational institutions
 
What steps IMA is taking to safeguard the standard and quality of medical education in India?
Medical education in India is controlled by Health Ministry through Medical Council of India (MCI). Ever since the MCI has been dissolved, it is controlled by Health Ministry through a Board of Governors. IMA is fighting for reconstitution of autonomous MCI. The present MCI is trying to make a BSc Community Service course which is in long run not in the interest of the medical profession. If the Government wants to fill the gap of the dearth of medical professionals in the country, they should increase MBBS seats and also nursing seats.
 
How do you think shortage of medical and paramedical staff can be addressed in India?
India needs 5 lakh more doctors, 10 lakh more nurses, 64 lakh more paramedics and 7.5 lakh more beds. It is only possible by building more private and Government medical educational institutions. The role of MCI should be to help recognising a medical college and not focusing on its derecognising.
 
What is your suggestion to deal with low doctor patient ratio in India?
Minimum infrastructure requirement is one hospital bed for 150 people, one dentist for 30 people, one doctor for 1500 people, one nurse for 500 people, one Personnel Service Company (PSC) for 10000 people, one pharmacist for three doctors, one midwife for 50 births and one health visitor for 3000 persons.
The only way to control is to open more medical colleges both undergraduate and postgraduate. Attractions should be provided so that Indian doctors do not go abroad. Most of the doctors in India try to go to Arabian countries for a couple of years to earn tax free
income so that they can start their clinic in India. Indian Government should think of providing the same facilities in rural areas. That means if a doctor wants to serve in a rural area for two years, he should be given free boarding and lodging and income tax free salary. Similarly, nurses should be encouraged to stay in India on similar terms.
 
Lately a lot of news have come up that showed the poor standard of patient safety in India. What do you think where are we lacking and how this can be rectified?
Patient safety today is a matter of concern. Over 1,00,000 people die in US alone every year because of human error. Sometimes back, there was a medical strike in California during that period number of deaths reduced but at the cost of increased morbidity. Improving morbidity will always beat the cost of increase in some mortality.
We should understand difference between magnitude and standard of care. Magnitude of care may differ but the standard of care should be the same. A person should be able to get uniform medical care irrespective of medical establishment he or she attends. Every medical institution in the country should be certified by NABHs. Job of NABH should be in assisting recognition and not derecognition. The Government and the MCI’s job should be to create awareness about patient’s safety. The only way Government can do it is to involve IMA with a membership of over 2.2 lakh, over 1680 branches and 29 state branches.
 
Dr K K Aggarwal, MD, Padmashri & Dr B C Roy National Awardee, National Vice President, Indian Medical Association (IMA) goes candid in identifying the lethal elements of Indian healthcare. In conversation with Sharmila Das, ENN.
 
For details visit following:

Saturday 2 February 2013

Constipation: Natural Treatment

If your stomach is ill, you would be ill and if your stomach is healthy, you would be healthy. The mother of all illness is stomach and health is stomach. Healthy stomach, better personality, ill stomach, deformed personality. These are some of slogans, which express the feelings of many of the famous experienced medical practitioners about the mother of all diseases.
In case of any disease, have natural treatment of stomach with patience and sure you would get better health. Thus, naturopathy is widely based on treatment of stomach. It includes awakening of dormant umbilicus and active it as the main source of health. Stomach related ailments do not allow umbilicus to be active. The different stomach related
diseases, which have relationship with almost all the physical and mental problems are five in nature. They have been named as enemy diseases as they are the originating point of most of the diseases. They are 1) Constipation 2) indigestion 3) gastric trouble 4) old dysentery and 5) acidity.
Constipation:
The top most among the enemy diseases is constipation. Modern science does not consider it as a disease but different researches of scientists have proved that it is not a common but a very complex disease. It appears to be very common but there is no disease, where it does not play active role. Therefore, constipation is said to be the root cause of all diseases.
The treatment of constipation:
Most of the medicines meant to cure constipation are dangerous. They cause immense damage to diaphragm of intestines and other refinery system. Intestines get weaker adversely affecting their peristaltic movement. Even the medicines like paraffin and caster oil are troublesome. It ultimately affects liver, rendering it ineffective. Over-consumption of the medicines causes jaundice and malnutrition of the body. It also causes respiratory related diseases, lungs and neck related diseases. The nature has granted power to every living being so that collected stool passes out normally. But the power continues only when our food habits are in accordance with the nature. We normally take
green vegetables and fruits and still are victims of constipation. We eat lot of vegetables but after peeling off. We prepare vegetables in the manner that all its nutritious elements and water gets burnt.  One kg vegetable remains barely quarter kgs, with all nutritious elements washed away. How a person could remain healthy and even a healthier person
would get ill. Fruits or even vegetables eaten raw like cucumber, pear, sapota and others are eaten after peeling off. Even when we prepare `roti`, nutritious elements
are washed out. We prepare pulses after peeling off. And we eat all this disregarding the fact that it is akin to garbage disposing in our body. The peels of  edibles have the strength to remove constipation. All essential vitamins, dextrin, minerals and salts are present in these peels in adequate quantity. They clean-up toxic organism from the intestines.
The following food and treatment keeps a human being away from constipation and make him healthy:
Food for treatment:
Drinking limited quantity of water is also one of the reasons of constipation, after waking-up in morning drink two glass of water, kept in brass pot before going to toilet. In case of dysentery, drink two glass of warm water with lemon juice and two spoons honey along with 15 grams ginger juice. Then take a stroll after 15-20 minutes while cleaning your teeth and if urge of going toilet develops, go immediately. For first two days, eat boiled vegetables, 2 days on fruits and 2 days on juices, with lemon+water+honey combination, taking after every three hours. Drink water in adequate quantity. After restricting yourself to juice, fruits and boiled vegetables, start with one `roti and subzi` along with `salad`. In daily routine take given items in breakfast according to the financial condition of individuals. Take `belgiri`, grapes, guava, mangoes, pear, sapota, tomato, dates and wet raisins and milk. Also take germinated corn, cucumber, gourd and luffa for the treatment of constipation.
Mid-day meal:
Prepare 'roti' of little grinded flour (half of hunger) with boiled vegetable, around 350 grams in quantity along with salad, germinated corns and curd. In afternoon, take butter milk or soup or juice of vegetable or fruit. In dinner, around 7 pm take roti, vegetable and salad. Those suffering with obesity and constipation should take only fruits or raw vegetables, germinated corn and cup full milk. Take milk one hour before going to bed. For treatment, keep wet soil for half-an-hour on stomach in the morning, without eating anything. Take hot and cold fomentation on spinal chord, stomach and liver. Then take enema and take hipbath for 15 minutes. Continue the process for five days. Then ignore enema but continue rest of the process. Enema could be against used, if need arises. In afternoon, after three hours of lunch keep stripe of wet soil daily and use wrapping of wet bed sheet, hot-cold hip bath, hot vapors on stomach and cold hip-bath, alternatively. Maintain all precautions during treatment. In asans Janushirasan, Pashimottanasan, Yogmudra, Pakshi Asan, Uttanpadasan, Dhanurasan, Chakrasan, Pavanmuktasan, Shalabhasan, Bhujangasan, Sarwangasan, Halasan, and Matyasan. Proper food habit and yoga could give relief from constipation. In case of an old constipation, take cup-full juice of bitter gourd and amla. The above mentioned natural treatments, proper diet and yoga increase intestines tone, which normalizes pace of peristaitic movement. It also gives permanent treatment to the problem of constipation. In old constipation complaints, veins and
nerves of intestines and stomach grow weak and here is the sure-shot to strengthen them. Daily take morning walk for 3-4 kms. Go for toilet, soon after the urge develops. Fix a time for it and essentially go once at the time fixed. Take maximum 15-20 minutes as sitting for more time or undue pressure could cause other problems.
This article is by one the best doctor & person I have come across, Dr Nagendra Kumar 'Neeraj' from Yoggram, Haridwar.