My first brush with a government healthcare system in the state — apart from my birth in such a hospital in Berhampore — was probably in 1987 when i visited a dentist in Kanksa primary health centre (PHC). The PHC at Kanksa — a block in Burdwan district — caters to thousands of villagers in and around Panagarh, a military base, from Trilokchandrapur in the north to Randiha in the south. Health services seemed to be alien to these villages — some are dominated by tribals, mainly Santhals — in the late ’80s, more than 10 years after the Left came to power in Bengal.
Like sports records, are promises made only to be broken? When the Left came to power in the historic 1977 elections before i was born, didn’t they send a message of hope for the underprivileged? Healthcare is a crucial issue not only for people at large but also for any state that wants to progress. How many people took the Coromandel Express for an appointment with doctors at CMC Vellore or Apollo Hospitals Chennai in the ’80s? We may not have the exact figures but certainly the number was far less than it’s today. Why should there be a beeline for the South when we have state-run “super-speciality” hospital like the SSKM?
Whoever has ever stepped to the super-speciality hospital, as the Left had remodeled and rechristened it, would know nothing is special in patients forced to live together with cats and rats, to bribe a tout for a bed (forget free beds for the downtrodden though there are provisions), to share bed (if you manage to get one) with a diarrhea patient, to shell out the extra bucks for hygienic drinking water or even to release a body after your nearest one’s death. We have taken this for granted as our misfortune in this state. Those who can afford go to private hospitals mushroomed off the EM Bypass in the last 10 years. But a government for the poor hardly cared for them.
Cut to Panaji, Goa, January 2010. One of my friends sprained her ankle on the last day of our trek. Within half an hour after reaching our base in Panaji, we could take her to Bambolim-based Goa Medical College. Screeching to a halt in front of the emergency, i saw a person was ready with a wheel chair and stretcher — a scenario still unimaginable in state-run hospitals in Bengal. She was wheeled into the orthopaedic department where an X-Ray was done on her ankle followed by plasters etc — and all it took just over 30 minutes to complete in the oldest medical college in Asia. Even medicines were available in the hospital pharmacy. For me, it was dream. Here, we run helter-skelter for a drug prescribed by our government doctors.
Cut to SSKM, Kolkata, May 24, 2011. A surprise visit by Mamata Banerjee kept doctors on alert and patients reassured of a failing healthcare system on revamp mode. Earlier we witnessed preparations at a government hospital with disinfectants only the day before a minister’s visit. With surprise visits being the new chief minister’s modus operandi to “change” systems, can we feel the pungent smell of bleaching powder instead of surgical stench at our hospitals? And, that applies to all government hospitals, not SSKM alone that can’t cater to millions in Bengal’s remote areas.
1 comment:
Arindam Das: You have picked the right one... If I am not wrong Vellore http://www.cmch-vellore.edu/HomeAdministration/tabid/302/Default.aspx is state run too... so why not SSKM? But ppl say unless you know any big shot its tough to get one bed :)) ... BTW when we will have our air-ambulance or emergency service like 999 in UK or 111 in European countries :)))))
Supratim Pal: air ambulance? yes, once there was a plan abt it... apollo wanted to start... but our Directorae General of Civil Aviation didn't clear necessary permits! come on... we live not only in a decayed state, but one which is yet to loose open its red tapes... unfortunate... 999, 111, 911... these r numbers that we have only heard of... nowadays the govt-run dedicated tel nos are either defunct or nobody cares to pick up the call although india has call centres for MNCs, including british telecom and uk rail!!
AD: hmmm........... Bujhlam.......tahole emergency te taxi niye chute hobe?
SP: yes. ta na hole NGO/club der ambulance... ta na hole pvt hospital gulo te ph korte hobe for ambulance... ta na hole eta bhebe nitey hobe 2nd largest populated country te emergency situation bole kichhu hoy na.
AD: Well gari holo ........ Ebar ki sarasari govt hospital e emergency dept te jawa jai?
SP: jawa jaye. chikitsa pawa jaye na. karon u have to dodge like maradona if u don't want to pay a single buck to any of the dadas jara tor rasta atkabe... after that u have to look for the doctor. tokhon dekhbi sekhane ekjon juior daktar in charge achhen... tini sudhui kintu in charge, tini patient k touch korben na senior er onumoti na niye... tar por jokhon tini elen (jodi asen), dekhbi nurse nei. j dada der tui poisa disni gate e dhokar somoy, tarai nurse er kaj ta kore debe... tokhon double poisa chaibe. totokhone patient er obostha motamuti kharap hochhe aro... karon tokhono taka-poisar rofa sesh hoyni... jokhon party er sathe dada der (including daktar), totokhone patient o sesh! tobe er j exception nei ta noy, kintu sei rokom case 10000 e ekta, if not lakh e ekta!
AD: Hmmm.......khub karun abostha....... Athocho ekhane cab driver theke engineer mai PM (cameron r wife samantha Cornwall govt hospital e deliver koreche) sabai govt hospital ei jai :))))))))
SP: see, healthcare e development na hole india konodin o uk ba onoanyo developed country er jayga te pochhote parbe na. since we have population in billions, we have to set up hospitals that can deliver services, including babies! amar jodi kono din o chhana-pona hoar moto obostha hoy, ami to WB er govt hospital er kotha bhabtei parchhi na (though i was born in berhampore state general hospital, so was my didi at rg kar medical college.... but that was more than 30 years ago)! ami david o noi goliath o noi!! oto sahos o nei bapu j amar bou k mere felbo with neo-natal infections. it may sound funny the way i'm putting facts now, but on a serious note, we need a complete overhaul of healthcare facilities.
AD: True a mammoth task. Recently bill gates has praised nitish kumar healthcare policy in state....... So madam has one neighbour who can provide tips :))))))))))
SP: absolutely. nitish has done wonders in bihar between 2005 and '10. dekha jak amader ki hoy!
Debasis Das: fingers crossed － Leadership matters but they need to work with same ppl....hope for the best!!
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