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Doctor doctor, please
Doctors take the Hippocratic oath, and are to live by it.. But with increasing frequency, I am seeing blatant violations of the sacred oath, in particular, of the sixth point mentioned here.. Every week, I keep hearing news of doctors going on strike, to protest either an assault on their colleague, or to protest the increase in duration of their course, or the introduction of caste based quotas, or against the health minister... The list is endless.. Try Google, you will get an idea of how big the problem is.
And now comes the disturbing part : Patients, including children dying for want of medical attention.. This is something absolutely unacceptable, and the government must, at the very onset of strikes like these, invoke ESMA, and make sure the medicos are back to work.. Health services cannot be held ransom to the whims and fancies of a few, no matter what.. These are "essential services", and they must continue, come what may, war or peace..
On the other side, the doctors do have a right to have their voice heard.. But a strike, that ends up killing patients is not the answer. I think the key here is a overhaul of our system, where tyrant ministers, sitting in their plush offices make rules on issues that affect the lives of these doctors. Rather than have this, we could have a medical council doing this work, which would constitute of doctors, and not bureaucrats.. Separation of the medical world from the clutches of a popular government is the buzz word..
This sort of a system, where the public does not have to suffer due to the wishes of a few is important, and for the simple reason : the scant medical facilities that our country has cannot be held hostage by anyone : they must continue to serve the people..
6 comments:
The Hippocratic oath is passe. Let's not dwell too much upon that, please, just like the oaths our MPs/MLAs take, or the honourable members of the congress party (who swear to wear khadi and not drink).
The problem is that we've got a culture where only a strike works.
Civilized behaviour is ignored, and criminal behaviour is actually rewarded.
Politicians seem to be able to go bash up a doctor with impunity, and nothing is done. What else must one expect the medical fraternity to do? It's all very fine for us to say "a strike is not the answer", but what else works in today's society? Doctors respond to societal cues like anyone else.
Next time the government "settles" a strike, be it of lorry operators or government employees, the message it's sending is: you need to strike to get your voice heard.
The doctors, unfortunately for us who depend on their care, have heard the message.
Incidentally, doctors in Kerala had gone on strike claiming they're not paid well enough. The justification? IT salaries are high, and engineers spend only 4 years in college compared to their 6. Ergo, they ought to be paid more. That's what the IMA representative actually said on TV.
We live in interesting times.
No denying the fact we indeed live in interesting times.. Very interesting, in fact.. But no matter what, no one can justify children dying for want of medical attention because of a strike..
I also don't agree that the strikes are the only thing that work.. There are excellent examples of PSUs working for years, both to the satisfaction of the public and the employees, without ever resorting to a strike.. The first that comes to my mind is IR, others being the KSRTC, BMTC etc.. These people work in much more physically demanding situations, and they don't resort to strikes to put forth their demands.. I see no reasons why that should not be the case with doctors.. But do railwaymen not get roughed by the mob sometimes.. Does it mean that our trains stop running??
Coming back to the issue of medicos, we have reached a point where the government must have lesser and lesser control on health care. Its role should be of a facilitator, not that of an administrator.. I am sure you will agree with me on this one, although this role should not be limited to health care alone..
That's precisely what happened in Kerala earlier this month. Flash strike by railwaymen, trains just stopped running. Guess what, I think their issues got resolved.
One cannot justify innocents dying because of lack of medical attention. The point is that that is a necessary consequence of our lax societal attitude to strikes. All strikes should be dealt with firmly, not just medical ones.
And the government, the less it actually does (as opposed to regulates), the better.
Man we live in India.... ppl hear u only when they have to... Imagine if the doctors followed the Japan policy where u work for extra hours to highlight ur problems.... Do u think our politicians would care for it.. ??
Hit them where it hurts !!! is what our striking doctors follow... nothing wrong about them from my side... its for the govt to make sure there isn't any problems with its "subjects". But that isn't reality today..... ESMA would be wrong... it would be against "right to protest"... Also if the IMA guys went on strike representing "actual" affected doctors... thats wat the govt would love to have... they would bribe the IMA guys within days... the real purpose of the strike wont be met..
I am saddened by this, but yes Karthik what u said is unfortunately very true!!
:(
Bribes and strikes and then bribes in the very same order have become the reality that we have to live with!!
And Yes Piyush, KSRTC and BMTC also had their OFF days when they used to strike, but now they are more of an autonomous body and less controlled by Govt., as u say. Probably that is why there is no problems there!!
:)
Ajay, rightly said, the government should just act as a regulatory authority.. The lesser it actually 'governs', the better..
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