Health for all

Modern times are stress ful times.With increasing pollution levels, our lungs have to endure more smoke.If this were not enough ,many have taken up smoking & drinking to combat stress  ! This instead of reducing stress compounds our health all the more.Many youngsters are falling prey to diseases which affected our forefathers in old age.Nowadays,it is common to hear of a person in forties dying due to heart attacks,cancer & the like.And yet ,these affect  some & not large number of people.

Some health conditions tend to affect a large proportion of our population.Notable among these is the cataract. Initially ,cataract was operated in ordinary way .It needed a longer stay in hospital.Patients were unable to resume their daily activities like watching TV,reading ,walking ,etc for days.This has all changed due to LASER surgery for correction of cataract.The patient can go home the same day after LASER has been used to correct the cataract. This means no hospitalization. This reduces cost as well.So even though cost of cataract surgery could be up to Rs 25,000/ or more ,for the poor ,it is as low as Rs 2500/- only.This has become possible because of minimum invasive techniques which assist in faster recovery.For all this NGOs ,dedicated doctors & modern health care is responsible .India is home to 22 million blind people.Out of this nearly 80% are blind due to cataract.Under WHO sponsored program me Vison 2020,financial assistance has been provided  to restore sight to millions especially the poor & the disadvantaged in India so that they can see again.This is getting easier with modern extra capsular cataract extraction with intra -ocular lens implantation. Efforts of NGOs,dedication by doctors & government participation is helping many blind see again.

Fibroids are a pain for nearly 25 million women in India.Surgery was the only option earlier.Hence women were afraid of Nowadays non invasive method is used to treat fibroids. This is the Magnetic Resonance Imaging guided High Intensity Focused ultra sound.Ultrasound waves are passed which heat & coagulate the fibroid tissues.This is day care procedure & the patient can resume her routine  from the next day onward.  No anesthesia is needed & hence comfort level of patient is very high.The women need not worry about loisng their uterus which was the case earlier when surgery was used to treat fibroids. Since it is non-invasive,the dangers of side effects & infections is greatly reduced.This safe  facility  is available at Apollo Hospitals.Hence many women  can opt for this method to overcome the pain of fibroids.

Accidents cause untold deaths throughout India.As per the Report of the Working Group on Emergency Care in India,more than 1 lakh males & 1.25 females were killed in road accidents in India in 2009.This is like a jumbo jet crashing daily ! Hence trauma care is  the need of the day.Many lives can be saved if medical care is provided in time.For this,ambulance services with essential equipment is necessary.So also insurance cover which is a rarity in India.Medical insurance is a cover to assist in times sudden & costly medical treatment becomes a compulsion. For such trauma care,medical personnel have to be trained & hospitals need to be equipped with tools needed for treating  accident victims.Even transport of victims from remote areas is vital.Hence air transport by means of helicopters  is needed.A large medical organization like Apollo has made this all possible.It has a pan Indian network of  emergency services across nine cities in India.This is very admirable indeed.Many lives can be saved .In case of accidents,timely treatment is necessity& this is possible only if victims can be transported to hospitals in the nick of time.

Modern healthcare should aim to provide amenities to more & more people.Then only, will it have stood the test of time.For this it has to be cost effective & be available to all easily.It must be accessible to all.That is why "Bahujan Hitaya bhaujan sukhaye " .....welfare of all will lead to happiness for all !