00:00 Namaskar. Welcome to another episode of Editorial.
00:04 The death toll in Dr. Shankar Rao Chavan Government Hospital, Nanded has increased to 35.
00:11 35 deaths.
00:13 My colleague Shashank has done a detailed report on this. I will attach that report with my editorial.
00:19 But let's talk about healthcare.
00:22 Let's talk about healthcare system in India.
00:24 And let's talk about where did our government fail?
00:29 That's the topic tonight. Let's get right into the show.
00:32 Now the Medical Education Minister, Hassan Mushrif visited the hospital and he said that,
00:40 "Listen, the problem is because there were lack of doctors."
00:42 He accepted it.
00:44 He accepted that there were lack of doctors.
00:46 He also said that, "Immediately we are going to get doctors on contract to work in these hospitals
00:51 till such time that we bridge the gap. Till such time that we fill the vacancies."
00:56 Now the question is, why were these vacancies there?
00:59 The question is, were we bothered about this till such time that such an incident happened?
01:04 Administration is about checks and balances.
01:09 Administration is about ticking the boxes so that a standard operating procedure is maintained.
01:15 Administration is not waiting for a calamity to happen and then correct it.
01:19 That is not administration.
01:21 It can never be good administration.
01:23 If a calamity has happened, it has happened because of a bad administration.
01:27 It has happened because of bad administration and if you correct it later on, it is not good administration.
01:32 You just managed to correct a problem that you created.
01:36 Now I will tell you what I am trying to say.
01:38 What I am trying to say is, according to some reports, there were 15% vacancies in medical and administrative staff.
01:44 15% vacancies and nobody filled it. Why?
01:48 Why? According to WHO says that it is mandated that the doctor to people ratio should be 1 is to 1000.
01:57 One doctor for 1000 patients.
01:59 Now in Maharashtra currently, we have got 0.84 doctors is to 1000 patients.
02:03 Now one may look at it and one may say that, "Listen, okay, it's not that bad.
02:07 1 was there, now it's 0.84.
02:09 But let's not look at it that way.
02:11 Let's not look at it that way because I'll tell you the ratio of 1 is to 1000 in a place like Mumbai will be far higher.
02:17 Will be far higher in a place like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and so on and so forth.
02:26 The ratio will be higher.
02:28 But in small places like Nanded, Parbani, Sangli, I don't know, these places the numbers will be lesser.
02:33 So there the numbers, the gap will be larger and here the gap will be shorter.
02:38 So therefore, if you look at it overall, yeah, it is 0.84%.
02:42 So let us not just go by that figure and say, "Okay, we are not that bad."
02:46 That may not be the true picture on ground.
02:49 That may not be the true picture on ground.
02:52 Now this is something that the administration has to foresee, has to foresee, has to warn, has to trigger alarms, red flags, that there is a problem.
03:03 We don't have doctors.
03:05 16 infants died for crying out loud, 16 infants.
03:08 Who is responsible for this?
03:11 You see, the point that I want to make is that we have a problem and the problem is that we couldn't care less when it comes to health.
03:21 We are more bothered about religion, who says what about what religion and which mosque and which temple and all that.
03:29 We couldn't care less for our health.
03:32 And that's precisely why a politician and the person who sits on our head as our rulers do not bother about your health.
03:40 I have been constantly talking about why health education is more important than anything else in this world.
03:47 But normally I don't get viewers either.
03:51 Normally I don't get viewers either because we are not bothered about our health.
03:57 Now, as much as the politicians, we are responsible to the families of those 16 infants, we are responsible because we have to answer them.
04:08 Because we chose our people wrong, because we were allowed that to happen.
04:13 I will give you some more examples.
04:16 You know, this is October 3rd story.
04:20 Parent of an 11-month-old infant, Taimur Mio, were aghast when he began foaming at the mouth.
04:28 They say that the child was given phenyl by the nurse instead of vitamin syrup.
04:34 Phenyl instead of vitamin syrup.
04:37 This happened in our hospital.
04:39 Okay, I will give you more.
04:41 A 17-year-old ailing child lost her life after she was thrown out of a hospital in Uttar Pradesh, Manipuri.
04:51 Her family members have alleged that the hospital had administered a wrong treatment to the ailing girl and the staff brought her out after her health deteriorated.
05:01 So, wrong treatment given to this kid.
05:03 This kid, when her health deteriorated, she was thrown out of the hospital.
05:06 Nothing happens.
05:07 You see, all this thing happens in India.
05:11 And the point is why?
05:13 Why? Because we keep quiet.
05:15 It doesn't matter to us.
05:17 We don't talk about it.
05:18 I will give you more cases.
05:20 A tribal woman was carried in a dholi, a makeshift stretcher, due to the lack of proper roads after she went into labor and gave birth in the transit.
05:30 When did this happen?
05:33 This was in the 18th century, 19th century.
05:36 This is the story of 19th century and it is still happening in 2023 in India.
05:40 We are Vishwa Gurus, they say.
05:43 Are we even serious?
05:46 Are we even serious?
05:48 A pregnant tribal woman from remote village of Bokaro district was carried in a cot by villagers for 3 kilometers where she gave birth to a girl but had to lose her child on the way during the journey.
06:02 In a cot.
06:03 2023 Vishwa Guru.
06:05 Moon. Chandrayaan.
06:08 I mean, look at it.
06:11 Is this not too India?
06:13 And this, more than blaming the politicians, blame ourselves.
06:17 Because we created that politicians.
06:19 We don't give impetus to health, so they also don't give impetus to health.
06:23 Have you seen a politician's talk in a rally saying that, you know what, I am going to give health, I am going to give hospitals.
06:28 He will give so many hospitals, he will put this much doctors, he will put this much nurse.
06:32 Okay, I am going to have this kind of hospital, this kind of medical college.
06:36 Out of this medical college, 50,000 doctors will be passing out in 5 years or 10 years and then these 50,000 doctors will go.
06:44 And if the politician says that nobody will sit in that rally, nobody is going to sit in that rally, they will all walk out.
06:49 They will say, what a boring topic.
06:51 Even if he says, that temple was ours, this was ours, then all of us sit and talk.
06:56 All of us sit and listen.
06:58 All of us sit and listen and that's the problem.
07:01 So here we are.
07:03 Why are we blaming the politicians alone?
07:05 We have a chalta attitude even when it comes to our life.
07:09 I mean, how worse can we get?
07:12 Even when it comes to our life.
07:14 I will give you some more examples before I get into some, I want to show you something.
07:17 Where rat nibbled into a patient's eye in the ICU of BMC Ram hospital.
07:22 The June story, 2022-2021.
07:27 So, all this and Mumbai, Mumbai, Mumbai Municipal Corporation Hospital.
07:34 All this happens.
07:36 See, the thing is very simple and the point that I wanted to make.
07:41 These are the hospitals that you see, these are the kind of public hospitals, government hospitals in America.
07:48 That's the picture you are seeing.
07:50 You will say, it's America, it's too big a country.
07:53 Let's remove that.
07:54 This is the picture that you see of a country like Thailand.
07:58 This is the picture, a government hospital in Thailand.
08:02 Look at the picture.
08:04 And now, this is the picture that you see of an Indian government hospital.
08:11 Do you see the difference?
08:13 So, what exactly are our priorities?
08:17 I don't ask the government this time.
08:18 I don't ask anybody. I am asking you.
08:20 What are our priorities?
08:22 Is our priority about how people talk about our dharma or how we build our temples or how we build our mosques?
08:30 Or is our priority to ensure that our children, their life is saved?
08:36 What is our priority?
08:38 Is it our priority to spend more money on advertising and saying how great our leaders are and how we are so good
08:47 that everything is like the golden days and all of that?
08:50 Is that our priority or is our priority to take that money and spend it on medicines, spend it on health care of a child?
08:57 How many more infants should die before we understand where we stand as far as health care is concerned?
09:03 I am sorry, I am a little emotional.
09:05 I am emotional because I have been talking about this for months.
09:09 Take any of my editorial.
09:11 Most of my editorial talks about health care.
09:13 Neither the public do anything about it nor the government.
09:17 Because unless and until we talk about it, unless and until we ask for it, you are not going to get it.
09:22 You are not going to get it.
09:24 And if these children lost their lives, we are equally responsible.
09:30 That is the point I wanted to make.
09:32 Before I end my editorial, a point of view.
09:39 You see, yesterday, 30 is what people put it as, 30 journalists were, they were visited by the Delhi police.
09:51 They were picked up from their homes, were interrogated in their houses.
09:55 They were interrogated in the police station.
09:59 The complaint was that the channel called News Click, they had some money from some sources which were anti-national sources.
10:13 They were being paying News Click for say, for spreading Chinese propaganda and that is why this entire action happened.
10:22 Now the point is, I do not know what is the story. I am sure we will come to know the actual story in a few days, months or maybe a year.
10:32 But what I wonder is what does a consultant journalist, a journalist who does one show in the channel, what has he or she got to do with this channel's funding?
10:46 The channel's funding has to be investigated, it should be investigated and definitely should be investigated. That is nice.
10:52 But what has that journalist got to do with it?
10:56 What have the journalists done? What have they done? How are they involved?
11:02 And if you really want to talk to them, interrogate them, ask them questions, call them, send them a summons, call them, ask them questions and send them back, that is the way it is, is not it?
11:15 Because end of the day, a journalist's work is in front of you.
11:22 The point is interrogating somebody whose work is in open forum, what is the point of interrogating and rounding up 30-40 journalists?
11:32 You see, what really happens is this gives a feeling that, it gives a feeling of intimidation.
11:38 And the feeling of intimidation is what is absolutely scary and that is what takes us close to fascism.
11:48 When a journalist is intimidated, then the question arises, is he being called because he has been funded by some anti-national elements or is he called because he is talking against the government and against the Prime Minister or against some leaders?
12:04 Is that the reason? Doesn't the question arise?
12:08 Why would the system, the administration, the government want such questions to be raised?
12:14 Then when the world says that there is a, we are low on our press freedom index, then how are they wrong?
12:22 That's the point I want to make because I didn't see the same zeal of going in the morning, picking the person up and taking him into the police station when it came to Brij Bhushan Sharand Singh.
12:38 He was accused for sexual harassment.
12:42 Yeh same zeal nahi tha.
12:45 This had same.
12:46 This was 6 o'clock in the morning, 8 o'clock in the morning, they were picked up.
12:50 So I wonder why this happens.
12:52 That's the question I wanted to ask.
12:54 So till I see you next time, that's tomorrow at 10pm.
12:56 Namaskar.
12:57 [Music]
13:02 [Music]
Comments