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Kolkata Diary
Health Hazards
by
Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
 The
public health system of Kolkata and West Bengal are despicable, to say the
least. While the Health Minister has retained his portfolio after the latest
State Legislative Assembly Elections, his Department is steadily sliding
downhill in terms of efficiency and accountability. Cats, dogs and mice
frequent the Wards of Government Hospitals and Primary Health Centers. Mice
nibbled away the eyes of a patient at a Government Hospital in Kolkata last
year. Frequent skirmishes take place between junior doctors and patient
parties, following deaths caused by negligence and lack of proper medical
attention. The situation is deplorable and made worse by the apparent
indifference of the powers that be. Health Minister Dr Surjyakanta Mishra is
famous for his rebuttals to the media and lack of adequate sensitivity to
public health issues. Dr Mishra is disengaged, so to say, and immune to
criticism from the Press of even from Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,
who has on more than one occasion [even during the recent electoral
campaign] expressed his serious displeasure and grave concern about the
state of the public health service delivery system in West Bengal.
Admittedly the public health system of West Bengal suffers from certain
critical limitations such as inadequate government funds, shortage of
skilled manpower, equipments, medicines, infrastructural resources etc. Add
to that the enormous pressure of patients on the system. Even today the
hapless majority visit Government Hospitals and Clinics for treatment. But
there is yet another aspect of this story. Doctors generally do not want to
serve in the remote districts that are not well-connected with urban
metropolitan centers. Nurses more often than not are found wanting in proper
execution of their professional duties. Expensive medical equipment are not
used properly and break down as a result. Poor patients are thus compelled
to visit private pathological clinics for different types of expensive
examinations. Their food is often sold in the open market [according to
media reports]. A class of persons calling themselves attendants are found
in Government Hospitals. They can arrange for extra medical care and special
attention, nutritious food and proper treatment supported by the presence of
personal nurses. This is yet again an entirely illegal system that
[according to the media] thrives in the public health system of West Bengal.
Global initiatives that focus on health system strengthening work with
country-level stakeholders must concentrate on priority-ranking the
multicultural issues that inform the dynamics of health sectors in
developing countries like India. Public health is often a context-bound
concern that is underpinned by the specifics of ground-level realities.
Inputs provided by country-level stakeholders are identity-driven, as the
choice of inputs itself is a value-loaded exercise. So the construct of
health issues in the public sphere is occasionally an expression of social
reflexes. This is especially noticed in the general response patterns of
society to incidence of HIV-AIDS, leprosy, Sexually Transmitted Diseases,
Multiple Personality Disorders etc. Global initiatives have not yet
comprehensively addressed priorities like augmentation of social capital and
facilitation of civil societal resources that constitute the core of health
systems among related concerns. No meaningful progress can be achieved in
developing countries regarding health issues without first cohering an
empowered civil society that is based on networks of mutual trust and
cooperation and at least a working notion of human rights. A Health Systems
Action Network can effectively contribute in terms of accountability,
transparency and efficiency to ensure good governance in terms of medical
care for those primary stakeholders who happen to be the so-called
beneficiaries of health systems in developing countries. Past funding in the
health sector by the World Bank and present prospective funding for health
sector reforms by the Department for International Development of United
Kingdom are topical examples of bilateral support to build local capacities
for globalized efforts.
One such worldwide public health initiative is the Pulse Polio Program of
the World Health Organization that is implemented by the Government of India
in association with the state governments. Global initiatives to eradicate
small pox and tackle tuberculosis have been successful in India. But
diseases like plague, malaria and dengue still visit India, especially West
Bengal. This indicates serious lacunae in our health system. A certain
section of society is convinced that if male children were allowed to take
polio drops they would be rendered impotent in their adolescence. This
widespread conviction has often led to the defeat of this program. On the
other hand several cases of child mortality have occurred in West Bengal due
to defective polio drops. This is criminal negligence and cannot be
tolerated. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee keeps on harping on
certain fundamental issues of good governance such as transparency,
accountability, efficiency, honesty and promptitude. His famous Do It Now
slogan has by now entered the folklore of Bengal and found a permanent place
in the country’s political rhetoric like the late Sanjay Gandhi’s Talk Less
Work More slogan. But Bhattacharjee’s repeated exhortations have failed to
evoke any public spiritedness on the part of the state government’s health
department staff members and health workers. The popular imagination of the
poor in West Bengal has realized only too well that all is not in proper
order in the state in terms of public health.
Media reports keep on pointing out to the fact that workers at Swasthya
Bhavan at Sector Five of Salt Lake City arrive at office around 11:00 AM and
leave around 3:00 PM whereas the official working hours are 10:00 AM till
5:30 PM. This callous and indifferent attitude towards a most critical
public service [funded by Government Agencies and International Donor
Organizations] that can make or break lives cannot be lightly treated. Even
Government Hospitals at Kolkata are nothing short of living hell. Several
patients littered across one bed, others writhing in agony on the floor,
eating food not fit for human consumption, lying prostrate at the mercy of
junior doctors and nurses, often victim to wring treatment … the sordid list
relentlessly goes on and on and on. A pro-poor and pro-people government
[that the Left Front claims itself to be] cannot really afford to indulge in
such casual toying with poor people’s lives. We are talking about real
persons here and not just issues and concerns of development that happen to
impact all of us in an uneven manner during the course of the politics of
our everyday lives.
Public health is a most critical issue that requires proper planning and
comprehensive execution at the administrative levels in order to ensure
sensitive handling of cases that are all unique. It is true that extra care
and attention in all the cases cannot be practically ensured in all the
cases but at least patients expect a humane approach from doctors and nurses
and health workers. The Hippocratic Oath should be upheld at all times to
ensure the human face of public health.
August 20, 2006
Image under license with Gettyimages.com
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Kolkata Diary
The Week of August 20, 2006
The Telgi Saga : Why Exposure Always Ends in
Closure by Rajinder Puri
Coming Chaos in Afghanistan by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
India's Independence Day 2006: Striking
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Manmohan's Win-Win Argument by Col. Rahul K.
Bhonsle
Human Power: A Divine Gift by TA Ramesh
The Real Problem with Globalization by
Aruni Mukherjee
A Parable on Proactivity by PGR Nair
Hair Loss Prevention through Ayurveda by Dr.
Savitha Suri
When the Earth Trembles! by VK Joshi
Vanishing Tropical Forests by Kusum Choppra
Health Hazards by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
Smart Wi-Fi by Ruchi Gupta
Sons as Lovers by Julia Dutta
Blame it on Blue by Prakash Pathre
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
Are we an Inconsiderate People? by CR Gopalakrishna
An Evening in Haridwar by Ragini Puri
Velvety Velavadar: Weekend Rendezvous in the
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Story of the Two Khans Fiction by CR
Gopalakrishna
Indo-Pak Conflict: 'Ripe' Enough to Resolve? a
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Indian Novel in English: A Sociolinguistic
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Superwomen Need to Eat Well by Priya Sahai
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Maximum City, Minimal Shelter by Usha
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Four Mothers Against War by Anat Cohen
The Power to Choose by Stephanie Hiller
Marriages are Made in Goa by Lionel Messias
The Gambler Girls by Yvonne Barlow
Pub Management: Gay Versus Lesbian by Rajesh
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Dilli Hat Glitters with their Jewellery by Debi
Prasad Sarangi
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