CM calls for private initiatives

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 19. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, has urged the public sector to emulate the efficiency shown by private initiatives in healthcare and other fields.

Mr. Krishna said this on Thursday after inaugurating "HealthCare India 2001" -- a four-day exhibition at the newly built super- speciality Narayana Hrudayalaya in the Bommasandra Industrial Area (BIA) on Hosur Road here.

Lauding Dr. Devi Shetty for having set up the hospital, the Chief Minister also commented on the speed of construction (the hospital was built in one year and three months), equated it with the Sathya Sai Institute and compared both with the slow pace of work at the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology (JIC). The Chief Minister is also the Chairman of the JIC Board.

According to him, the delay in the JIC work was a ``sad reflection of the state of affairs in public sector health and other fields''.

He pointed out that the State Government did not have funds to set up super-speciality hospitals. Its funds were ``spread thinly to cover primary and secondary healthcare in rural and urban areas''. He, therefore, invited more public-spirited private efforts in this area so that the pressure on government hospitals would ease.

Mr. Krishna also complimented Dr. Shetty for having a devoted list of patients and wanted Government doctors to learn from Dr. Shetty's experiences. ``They too should know how to cultivate such a following, such bonds between doctors and patients,'' he said.

The Chief Minister made it clear that he was not disparaging the work done by government doctors, ``...they are good in their own way. But they must be propelled by a spirit of service and draw inspiration from non-governmental organisations and private hospitals,'' he added.

Heart disease: The Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. A.B. Maalakaraddy, said the Government was focusing more on primary healthcare. He was alarmed by the increasing prevalence of heart disease in India, and said ``... they are three times more common here than in the West''.

He believed that there had to be increased awareness about the causes of heart ailments. ``People must learn to moderate their diet and, at the same time, exercise properly,'' he added.

Dr. Shetty said that 25 lakh people in the country needed heart operations every year. Of those, only 45,000 could afford to go in for surgery, he said.

The doctor said that 60 per cent of the operations at Narayana Hrudayalaya would be for poor people. He said that the hospital presently had 280 beds and could perform 25 operations everyday. By 2002, there would be 780 beds with 70 surgeries daily. He also disclosed that the hospital would set up a School of Nursing, with a Rs. 1-crore grant from Johnson & Johnson. There would also be a Narayana School of Telemedicine.

Dr. Shetty added that Narayana Hrudayalaya would have VSAT links with seven hill stations in the Northeast, Siliguri and Bankura in West Bengal, and Chamarajanagar in Karnataka.

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Section  : Southern States
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