Doctors, who participated in the seventh all-India conference of the Medical Service Centre - a national-level socio-medical voluntary organisation - on Saturday, underlined the importance of sustainable public health in preventing the spread of newly identified infectious diseases.
Making a presentation on “Emerging and Re-emerging Viral Infections” at the conference, K.R. Raveendra, Professor of Medicine at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), said a majority of emerging and re-emerging infections are vector-borne.
“The cross-border spread of infectious diseases, an upsurge in newly identified infections along with the emergence of known infections in new geographic areas, serve as compelling reminders of the importance of ensuring strong and sustainable clinical and public health. Along with this, laboratory capacity and collaborations at local, national and international levels are also vital,” he said.
Pointing out that increasing expansion of human civilization is leading to introduction of novel viruses in humans as accidental hosts, Dr. Raveendra said education of healthcare workers and the general public will go a long way in preventing spread of the disease.
Human Development Index
Inaugurating the conference, organised under the auspices of BMCRI, M.V. Nadakarni, visiting professor at the Indian Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) and former vice-chancellor of Gulbarga University, said that India ranks 132 among 198 countries as per the Human Development Index (HDI) 2022. It fell by two ranks in a year during COVID-19.
“Although the vaccine programme was made free, the treatment for COVID-19 was not free which is a flaw in the health system,” he said.
“Although India’s maternal mortality rate has dropped, it is still higher than countries like China. Shortage of doctors is very high compared to China which is a representation of unequal distribution across States in India. Availability of doctors is proportional to purchasing power which is clearly an impact of commercialisation of health,” he said.
The two-day conference includes discussions on new medical, scientific and ethical challenges faced by the health sector and medical field. Deliberations on a pro-people health policy with Universal Health Care provided by the government rather than Universal Health Coverage based on insurance and the need for an adequate budget (5% of GDP) for health will also be held on Sunday.
