In case you did not know, like me, 1st July is celebrated as Doctor's Day. It is only a few days back that I had an opportunity to come across a Public Health facility in the remote and sensitive district of Dantewada, Chattisgarh while shooting for a documentary movie. And on account of personally experiencing the facilities and the commitment of the doctors & nurses there I was very inspired to write a blog post on it . Such great work done by these noble persons need to be spread I feel personally .
But first let me be the 'Swamy' and do a little bashing of the facilities provided by the government .Public health facilities provided by the government is often inadequate in India especially in rural and remote areas.The rural medical infrastructure is not up to the mark in most of the areas.There is a serious shortfall of doctors who want to cater to the rural needs . Some even prefer to pay a high amount of money to the government in order to skip their rural duties. Now days there is serious question on the professionalism of doctors and ethics in medical practices with doctors resorting to unrequired surgeries and prescribing unnecessary antibiotics . The successive governments ever since independence have failed to create an effective Public Healthcare system especially for the poor and needy. The laxity of government has been the gain of the private medical firms which are restricted to the 'commercial' areas only. All in all , the hardest hit has been taken by the rural villagers who have no access to cheap/free public health facilities and have to take expensive trips to the cities. Domestic Medical Tourism in itself is a very huge market in India ! It is a saying that at government hospitals that if you are admitted in one and if you see a doctor, you saw God !
This was the status of the government facilities . But now there is this facility by NMDC Apollo Central Hospital at a remote village called Bacheli in Dantewada district , Chattisgarh that provides as a unique public healthcare model for us to study. Bacheli is located near a Mining location rich in iro ore mineral. It is mostly(90%) inhabited by Gond and Halbi tribes. Financed by the National Mineral Development Corporation ( NMDC ) and managed by leading private healthcare firm Apollo Hospitals this was one place where the image of doctors as god is really visible. While I was really not soo keen on visiting the hospital as I don't like it but I was glad that I went in and had an opportunity to personally meet the CMO .
Sitting in his cabin he was monitoring the whole facility through CCTV's fitted at every nook and corner of the hospital . He described the life of tribals living there as very tough . Anemia was rampant and cases where hemoglobin levels were 6 were quite common even in pregnant woman which is unthinkable ! Normal levels range above 15 units. Some, he said had even 1 which is absolutely crazy as its impossible to survive in that condition. But still he said that somehow they survive. With the advent of monsoons he said that there will be problem of malaria and cases of snake bites. Also drinking water is not clean as the mining there has lead to mixing of ore in water bodies. Then there are cases of cirrhosis and liver related issues on account of culture of drinking local alcohol there. Also there were sanitation issues on account of open defecation.
The challenges he said were many but the administration at the hospital was well equipped to provide free services to the tribals there. They had treated 80k villagers at the hospital since 2009 when the facility started and this year the numbers are going to reach more than 1.8 lakhs ! Now while briefing us on all the facilities he literally demonstrated to us that the patients there are taken excellent care of by point us on the screen at his table. The poor patients were fed properly and even water was provided to them at their beds ! Now that is one sight you normally don't come across anywhere especially in free facilities ! It was astonishing to see such empathetic approach to public service at this remote village in Chattisgarh ! But wait, here is not where the story ends. There was a Telemedicine facility as well with huge screens for direct consultation with doctors at Hyderabad ! One really gets bowled over by entering at the room !
Other great facility was the blood testing infrastructure they had. The CMO told that they can provide the blood group results for 250 people in an hour from this facility ! That is such a number that beats some of the private medical facilities in cities as well !
There were plans to introduce an E-ICU in consultation with doctors in Hyderabad in the near future.
The doctors we permanently available and were not just visiting doctors. Overall at the look of it , everyone was doing their own work sincerely which is very uncommon for a public health facility . Also he told that the life support systems which costs upwards of 40k per day were also provided to the poor tribals free of cost . Now tell me where do you get such excellent facilities anywhere around even in cities !
The empathetic approach to the work added with the world class facilities at this remote center with noble ideas in the pipeline for the future made me think that gods really do exist ! The CMO in this case along with the nurses and other doctors and ward boys really were living gods for me ! Only if we could replicate this great sustainable financing model along with partnership with private firms that could bring great cost free services to the poor and needy in the whole country. The ethical practices and the professionalism exhibited was one of a kind to be emulated by their greedy peers in the cities .A thorough study for the same should be made and practiced ! Happy Doctor's Day !
The CMO @ Telemedicine Facility
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