National doctors day

 

The National Doctors Day in India is celebrated every year on the 1st of July in memory of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy - a legendary physician, freedom fighter, educationist, philanthropist and politician. Dr Roy was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, who remained in the post for around 14 years from 1948 to till his death in 1962. He was born on July 1, 1882, and died on the same date in 1962 at the age of 80 years, thus the day commemorates his birth as well as the death anniversary.

His contribution to the welfare of the people, especially of women, has been great. He played a great role in establishing many medical institutions like Jadavpur TB Hospital, Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital, Chitta Ranjan Seva Sadan for women and children etc. For his immense contribution to society Dr Roy was honoured with the country's highest Indian civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 1961.

The day is celebrated to remember and pay tribute to Dr Roy and also each and every doctor for their tireless efforts and dedication towards the patients and society. The celebration in fact is an attempt to emphasise the value of doctors in our lives. The day is meant to pay respect to doctors and recognise their contribution. It is a fact that doctors not only treat us with utmost care but also encourage us to face and fight disease. They do help us to grow physically and psychologically.

The service they provide to people in the worst times of their health is simply incomparable.

The pandemic has shown the vital role played by doctors to relieve the suffering and agony of the people, and save the lives even at a high risk of being getting infected. It showed how doctors work tirelessly with dedication and commitment, often sacrificing their sleep and time to save our lives. It is a fact that a lot many doctors and other healthcare workers got infected while treating the patients and many of them lost their lives. As such, it is time to remember and pay homage to the doctors and other healthcare workers who lost their lives while treating and saving our lives. It is also an opportunity to felicitate the doctors and other healthcare workers, especially the COVD warriors for their great work. Again, it is time to celebrate all the advancements in diagnostics, treatment, prevention of diseases etc. made by the doctors and other healthcare-related people. Although the day is supposed to be celebrated by the patients and society in general, it is usually celebrated by the hospitals, medical institutions, professional societies of doctors like Indian Medical.

Association, healthcare- pharma industry etc. It won't be out of place to mention that many patients do express gratitude to their doctors by phone calls, sending thank you notes, greeting cards, personalised messages, bouquet of flowers etc.

As we celebrate the National Doctors Day, it is appropriate to discuss and work on various challenges faced by our doctors. One of the major challenges faced by doctors has been the poor healthcare system and very high work volume. Pandemic well exposed the poor healthcare system - inadequacies and lacunae in our healthcare system like inadequate human resources, beds, essential drugs including oxygen, equipment, diagnostics, treatment facilities, ICUS, ventilators etc. Low budget is another challenge as allocation of funds to the health sector has been meagre in our country. The governments have to have health on the top in the priority list and must own responsibility for appropriate, adequate and affordable health care. A good thing is that the Central Government realised all this and undertook many well-needed measures like the health insurance cover- Ayushman Bharat scheme, providing the expensive implants and quality generic medicines at affordable prices, Jan Aushadhi scheme, facility of telemedicine, increasing the number of seats in medical colleges etc. to provide access to affordable healthcare to all.. The Central government infused a massive dose of funds in the health budget to improve the infrastructure, human resource, medical education etc. All this has been well recognised and appreciated by the people in general.

The fear of assaults is a challenge that doctors and healthcare workers usually face. They face a constant threat of assaults by relatives and attendants, especially when a patient dies or a mishap happens.Somehow or other there has been an increase in the violence against doctors in our country as is reported in the print, electronic and social media. A study by Indian Medical Association (IMA) found that 75 percent of doctors in India have faced some sort of violence at some point of time in their life. It is very saddening and ridiculous that even in the worst times of the pandemic, when doctors have been working round the clock to save our lives, there have been reports of verbal harassment, discrimination and physical violence against them. The Government of India took its cognisance and passed an ordinance that acts of such violence shall be punished with a heavy fine and imprisonment. The step has been welcomed by doctors.

Over and above, a big challenge before all of us is our rapidly-growing population. That very much strains and puts enormous pressure on all resources and systems, including the health care. There is dire need to proactively work on measures with incentives and disincentives for implementing the two-children norm as that would solve many of our existing problems.

Facing all the challenges, our doctors have been doing an extraordinary work for which they deserve our appreciation. Society should be grateful to their efforts and contributions in taking care of our health. The pandemic has shown that doctors are the real heroes. People need to appreciate their efforts and respect them every single day and not just on the national doctor's day.

Let me conclude with the prayer "Om, Sarve Bhavan Sukhinah: Sarve Santu Nagayama: Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu: Ma Kashchid dukhbhag Bhavet II. OM Shantih, Shantih, Shantih '' meaning Om, May All Be Happy, May All be Free from Illness, May All See what is Auspicious, May no one Suffer. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

(Dr M K Mam is the former Vice-Principal. Professor and Head of Orthopaedics, Christian Medical College Ludhiana, Punjab)

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Courtesy:-    Dr. M.K. Mam   and  Koshur Samachar 2022, July