Indiae
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Rural Medical Service
Earlier a move to launch 3-yr diploma course for rural health service met with scathing criticism from medical fraternity on ground of discrimination going to be made between rural and urban population in respect of health services offered to them. Country folk would be treated by quack while their city counterparts by qualified doctors, they argued. In fact, village people hardly get any treatment worth the name, let alone they get the opportunity to be treated by the proposed diploma holders whom they call quack and that too because qualified doctors are reluctant to serve in villages despite incentives. Any way, state govt’s plan for launching medical diploma fizzled out.However,what’s heartening, in its place something better has come up for rural populace. Decision to introduce 4-yr graduate course(MRBS) for rural medical service has been taken and it’s been ratified by Indian Medical Council. Certainly, it’s a welcome move and good days are in the offing for village people after long suffering and deprivation. So we hope for the best. However, only to sort out the problem of availability of qualified doctors won’t do, supply of medicine and other necessary medical facilities to the rural medical centers must be ensured to do justice to rural people.
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Obligatory duty of the State is to provide and ensure education,heathcare,transport to the people at large along with availability of essential commodities at an affordable cost.That's the intention of the principles enshrined in the constitution of the Secular,Socialist, Democratic Republic of India.But the Govt decide to act otherwise and instead allow the big business to amass money as they could in this lucrative money spinning sector.A wellorganised state health service can cater to the needs of the people to a great extent,since private hospitals and nursing homes are simply inacessible to less privileged because of the prohibitiv cost.More than 70% of the people get medical attention through the state hospitals ranging from subsidiary health centre to state general hospitals and specialised referral hospitals.But strenghtening of subsidiary and primary health centres are must for rendering better health care in the villages.With improvemnet of transpotation network it is now possible to reach specialised hospitals in urban centres in reasonable time.Dependence on private medical facilities can never ensure proper health care for the people at all levels specially in the countryside. Absence of regular intake of physicians in the state health service in our state has created dearth of doctors. Attendant unavailability of treatment facilities in rural hospitals and centres added as disincentive to budding doctors to enter state health service.Dearth of qualified medical professionals can only be overcome by inducting more students in the medical fraternity by incresing seats in medical colleges which the wbgovt has started from last two years with the approval of the MCI.But the queer outlook of the state govt appoiting homoeopaths in the State Health Service with equal pay and allowances and other facilities with a view to make up the shortage has created a peculiar situation. Students passing MBBS after six years of study including one year compulsory internship resent the move. Moreover to be eligible to enter State Health Service one-yr House Staffship is mandatory. So seven years are required for a doctor to be recruited to the service.Now the four year degree course including one yr House Staffship
ReplyDeletefor rural doctors will certainly create the divide in the medical fraternity.Medical Council of India under pressure of the Central Govt and also State Govts concedes to the scheme which it itself disallows for years.That's a shortsighted step having neither any concern for the rural masses nor catering to the genuine needs they badly requie. In health care and education small and poor country like Cuba suffocating under the brutal sanction of USA,tops the list as the provider of these essental needs of masses.Their system starts from the countrysde. In rural primary health centres, doctr residing on the top of the building of nearby atteds the patients in the morning ; in the evening he visits the patients in the locality.Cases are referred to urban centres for more specialised attention Resouce matters. But not the only input. Policy matters.The present move for creating rural doctors like the early variant of barefoot doctor is more for public consumption than the actual mitigation of the genuine needs of the rural masses.