Oct 9, 2010, Mumbai
" I have a task - To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them
the lives lives full o/bliss . ... I am attached to a work that 1 love ... To
remove the sufferings of the poor and to grant them what they lack."
-Sri Satllya Sai Baba-
The Medicare Conference "Healing with Love" - Healthcare for Rural
India at their Doorstep, organised by the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation
(Maharashtra & Goa) was held recently on Saturday, October 9th 2010 at the MEA
club, Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. A brief
details about the Public Health in India and about the objective of this
Conference as well as the Role of Sathya Sai Organisation have been explained
briefly below.
Public Health in India: Preamble
India has registered significant progress in improving life
expectancy at birth, reducing mortality due to Malaria, as well as reducing
infant and material mortality over the last few decades. In spite of the
progress made, a high proportion of the population, especially in rural areas,
continues to suffer and die from preventable diseases, pregnancy and child
birth related complications as well as malnutrition.
In addition to old unresolved problems, the health system in the
country is facing emerging threats and challenges. The rural public health care
system in many states and regions is in an unsatisfactory state leading to
pauperization of poor households due to expensive private sector health care.
India is in the midst of an epidemiological and demographic transition - with
the attendant problems of increased chronic disease burden and a decline in
mortality and fertility rates leading to an ageing of the population. An
estimated 5 million people in the country are living with HIV / AIDS, a threat
which has the potential to undermine the health and developmental gains India
has made since its independence.
Non-communicable diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases, cancer,
blindness, and mental illness and tobacco use related illnesses have imposed
the chronic diseases burden on the already overstretched health care system in
the country. Premature morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases can be a
major economic and human resource loss for India. The inequity is also
reflected in the skewed availability of public resources between the advanced
and less developed states.
The Players
The National Rural Health Mission was established in 2005 by the
Government of India to address inequity in healthcare and facilitate bringing
about dramatic improvement in the health system and the health status of the
people, especially those who live in the rural areas of the country. The
Mission is charged with providing
a) Universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health
care which is accountable at the same time responsive to the needs of the
people
b) Reduction of child and maternal deaths
c) Population stabilization including gender and demographic
balance.
In addition to the mandate set by the Government of India for the
central, state and local governments, several bilateral/multilateral
development agencies such as the WHO, UNICEF, DFID, WB, UNDP to name a few,
international foundations such as the BMGF and the Clinton Global Initiative,
as well as a plethora of NGOs, individuals and organizations have undertaken
systematic steps of varying sizes and scales to address different aspects of
the Millennium Development Goals of September 2000, three of which directly
address public health while the eighth goal focuses on a global partnership for
development.
Role of the Sathya Sai Seva Organization
Sri Sathya Sai Baba has been working incessantly for more than half
a century to bring about the joyous experience of compassion and love to
mankind all over the world. While there are many hospitals, Sri Sathya Sai Baba
believed that free healthcare, like free education and drinking water, is an
inalienable right of every individual, irrespective of race, religion. caste,
creed or economic status. With these noble ideals, the first Sathya Sai
Hospital was established in PuttaparthL India in 1956.
During the last 50 years this has blossomed into a vast global
system delivering free healthcare in many countries using the principles taught
by Sri Sathya Sai Baba. These principles together provide a framework for the
delivery of ideal healthcare. In addition to providing free education, free
water supply and free healthcare, in the field of medicine. he has
fundamentally redefined healthcare delivery by making services universally
accessible and ensuring that state-of-the-art modern medicine is delivered with
immense love, patience and compassion. Furthermore, health education and
preventive care have been an essential component of this paradigm, involving
thousands of healthcare professionals around the world who espouse His
philosophy and work under His guidance.
Objectives of the Conference
The work ahead of each of us in changing the face of Indian
healthcare from an access, cost, quality and equality standpoint is nothing
short of mammoth; some may even call it impossible. Our goal in convening the
brightest minds in Indian healthcare, policy. governance, technology, media and
development. to name a few, is to initiate and then carry forward a dialogue
that will help us to:
I) Identify and critically examine key issues and barriers that are
common to all entities in this space
2) Understand the gaps between what is already being done and how
much further we have to go, as a nation
3) List opportunities for collaboration and partnerships with
existing national-level initiatives, wherever possible
4) Utilize our sizeable organizational resource base to engage with
India's underserved, with the Ultimate goal of getting quality healthcare to
the doorstep of rural India
