As the saying of the wise
goes
“Health is wealth”
Indeed so! And in today’s busy
and Competitive world even more so…
In the modern fast paced world, where everyone
is running around and working nonstop; it becomes even more important that in
this race one’s health doesn’t get neglected. Therefore it becomes imperative
that quality healthcare and better medical infrastructure be available to
everyone.
In India, healthcare is being delivered through both Public
healthcare and Private healthcare.
Although public healthcare
system provides free and subsidized healthcare but the infrastructure and
quality of healthcare are the main concerns that are still being dealt with.
However the silver lining is that
all these concerns have been taken care by the Private healthcare system. Private
healthcare system has been able to provide the best healthcare facilities to
masses with its cutting edge technological advancements, best medical
practitioners and doctors with worldwide reputation, state of the art
infrastructure and constant advances in medicine and equipments.
Today India offers best healthcare facilities which are at par with
the western countries.
Private hospitals in India like Apollo and many others have come a
long way where they can boast of world class medical facilities and that too at
a comparatively lesser expense. Treatment costs in Indian
hospitals are way less as compared to the costs in USA or Britain. That’s why Modern
India has become one of the most favorable destinations for medical tourism.
People from neighboring countries as well as from African and Gulf countries
now travel to India for better medical facilities.
Indian hospitals excel in the areas of heart
surgery, hip replacement, and Joint replacement and are much sought after even
by the westerns because of less cost. A Cardiac Surgery costs almost a tenth of
what it does in America which in itself is a matter of pride for Indian
healthcare and an enough incentive for westerns to look up to India for
treatment
Indian hospitals provide facilities like
Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Joint Replacement, Orthopedic Surgery,
Gastroenterology, Ophthalmology, Transplants and Urology. The Hospitals also
provide services like Neurology, Neurosurgery, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Endocrinology, ENT, Pediatrics, Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric
Neurology, Urology, Nephrology, Dermatology, Dentistry, Plastic Surgery,
Gynecology, Psychiatry, General Medicine and General Surgery.
Moreover,
there
have been many ground breaking innovations in the field of medicine.
Today we have cure for even the rarest of rare diseases. As we see some new
kind of ailment springing up every new season be it SARS, Bird Flu, Swine flu
or the latest Avian flu, the medical fraternity have been able to combat all
these diseases with their knowledge, perseverance, clinical research and
innovation in drugs and medication.
Recent
past has seen a lot of development in technology related to
diagnosis and treatment, which includes New and sophisticated instruments,
automation, surgical robotics, modular operating theatres, minimal access
surgery systems, telemedicine, radiology. Development of a lot many healthcare
gadgets is also underway.
For example -
Diabetics can be
supervised in a better way with the help of a glucometer, which
performs the action of measuring glucose in the patient's blood and the reading then goes directly
from the glucometer to the health care provider via mobile phone.
A Vscan is a Pocket-sized visualization tool with ultrasound which enables
physicians to conduct internal visual exams of their patients to confirm what
they may or may not be hearing immediately and non-invasively.
Telemedicine which arrived in
1999 involves the remote diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of patients via
videoconferencing or the Internet.
“Prevention is better than cure”
Treatment and Prevention being the
flipsides of healthcare, modern healthcare pays an equal emphasis on prevention
too. Preventive health checkups can help in early detection of some serious
ailments like cancer which can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage.
There are some 85-plus tests to
ascertain if people are healthy or not. From blood tests to quick CT and MRI
scans to rule out cancers, Stress test
for families with cardiac history, Blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar level, general eye test, health
checkup for woman like Mammogram test for identifying possible signs of breast
cancer etc.
These Preventive health checkups
therefore can help to nip the evil in the bud. Early diagnosis helps in
complete and efficient cure. The finance minister has even announced a tax incentive of up to
5,000 for preventive health check-ups, thus underlining the importance of
prevention.
However
Healthcare in small towns and villages still remains one of the prime concerns.
Most of the best private hospitals are located
in Metros and tier one cities while rural healthcare needs are yet to be
addressed in a more effective way. But the good news is that there have been
several advances in the form of telemedicine and video conferencing.
Many
hospitals like Amrita Institute of medical sciences, Arvind eye hospital,
Apollo Hospitals have made an attempt to reach out to the rural and less
accessible areas by means of telemedicine.
- For example DISHA(a Distance health care advancement project) partnered by Apollo hospitals is a novel telemedicine initiative to provide long distance healthcare to the under-served population aimed at providing healthcare to vulnerable groups at an affordable cost. With this objective in mind, a mobile Teleclinical van will reach out to areas that do not have access to state of the art medical care. The van will have an ultrasound machine, an X-ray, a defibrillator and an ECG machine along with dedicated doctors and other Para-medical staff from Apollo Hospitals. The hospital has also ensured availability of specialist doctors and operational staff at its hospital to facilitate multi-specialty consultations for patients visiting the mobile tele-clinical vans. Aided by technology and service minded Medicare professionals, the van will offer superspeciality and specialty tele consultation, lab facilities, onsite consultation and secondary and tertiary care where needed
- The CURE foundation is another effort by Apollo Hospitals to bring cancer care to those who cannot afford it. CURE extends preventive as well as rehabilitative cancer treatment to the economically backward
- The Hospitals are also running awareness campaigns against various diseases by means of presentations, counseling, audio or video conferencing and such similar initiatives. These awareness campaigns are directed on educating the rural people about a balanced and healthy diet, malnutrition, Sanitation, some minor and major ailments.
Hopefully
this Healthcare gap in India will be bridged with the expansion of Private
hospitals into the rural and suburban areas. And the vision of universal
healthcare will soon be realized.
We Indians are lucky to have a rich cultural
heritage of Yoga and Ayurveda.
Small dose of simple Yogasans in the morning
also keeps you fresh for the entire day.
We can simply switch on the
TV in the morning to learn a few simple yogasans by Baba Ramdev or we can learn
them from easily accessible CD’s or over the internet.
On a closing note modern
healthcare ensures wellness for all by means of technology, medicine and
traditional forms of healthcare. There are certain challenges like matching the
rural healthcare standards with those of the urban, but with all the
initiatives being taken up by the Private hospitals and their expansion plans
we can hope for a brighter picture of the future.
This post is written for Indiblogger Contest
Please visit http://www.apollohospitals.com/cutting-edge.php for more information about Apollo hospitals and their contribution to modern healthcare
