Why protesting K’taka doctors should learn lesson on humanity from this Odisha doctor

A doctor from Odisha by carrying a patient on his shoulders proved how noble the medical profession is.

Bhubaneswar, Nov 4: What ills the noble profession of medicine in the country? Is it greed, competition or lack of compassion for patients? These are some of the complex questions which don't have any straight answers.

However, one thing is clear--doctors have always been in the line of fire as they are being alleged to be too "greedy" and don't even spare "looting" poor patients. But to paint all the doctors with the same brush would be an injustice to the medical profession.

In spite of large-scale commercialisation of the profession, you will always find several doctors working in remote corners of the country for the poor and needy without thinking a bit about their own benefits.

One such doctor, who is no less than a hero, is Odisha's Omkar Hota.

The young doctor hogged the limelight after he decided to walk eight kilometers from his hospital to attend a pregnant woman in labour pain in a remote village of Malkangiri district, infamous for maoist insurgency.

Hota walked eight kilometers to help the woman deliver her baby as the patient could not come to the hospital on her own because her village Sarigeta is yet to get proper road connectivity.

The 'good doctor' did not stop at that. After delivery, the patient developed some complication and she needed further treatment. It is then that Hota decided to take the woman to the hospital.

However, as the patient was too weak to walk, the doctor and her family members put her in a cane bed and carried the new mother on their shoulders. Thus Hota walked another eight kilometers back to his hospital, but this time with the patient on his shoulders.

In a way, Hota created a new benchmark for doctors and humanity at large--never leave anyone alone in distress.

Now, coming back to private medical practitioners in Karnataka, these medicos and their colleagues in allied professions hosted a day-long strike by closing down private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres across the state on Friday.

The reason behind their strike is that they were protesting against the proposed Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (Amendment) Bill.

Thus around 50,000 private doctors did not attend patients on Friday and kept the doors of at least 45,000 private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres closed.
The protesting doctors say the bill is against their very right to practice their profession.

If the Bill is passed in the state Assembly in the forthcoming winter session then it will enable increased government regulation on private hospitals: including fixing of fees and cost of treatment, and a district-level grievance committee that can take action against erring hospitals.

The clauses in the Bill miffed the doctors as activists allege that private medical practitioners don't want to be accountable to the patients. The doctors have threatened that if the Congress government in the state does not fulfill their demands then they would go on a strike again on November 10.

Activists working in the field of health say that the private hospitals' lobby in the state is purely bullying the government by putting the lives of so many patients at risk.
The Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali (KJC), a network of civil society and grassroots organisations working on health issues in the state, has condemned the strike in strong words.

"We condemn the continued opposition by private medical establishments to protect patients' rights, democratic accountability and transparency under the proposed amendments to the KPME Act 2017," stated a press release of the KJC.

"The private medical establishments in the state continue to oppose and resist attempts by the government to hold them democratically accountable, adhere to patient rights and safety guidelines, regulation of cost and grievance redressal mechanisms.

"The private hospitals have continued with their misinformation campaign deliberately twisting and misrepresenting various provisions in the Amendments to suit their interests," added the press release.

Probably, the adamant doctors of Karnataka should push their boundary a bit and learn something from the likes of Hota, who are no less than 'messiahs' for the suffering patients.

OneIndia News