The former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said here on Tuesday that medical practitioners should provide healthcare with compassion. Delivering the keynote address at the silver jubilee celebrations of Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College in Kolar on Tuesday, Dr. Kalam said here on Tuesday that medical practitioners should be generous, tolerant and ethical while discharging their duty.
Dr. Kalam spoke on the role healthcare givers play in the development of the nation. He said that they should think out of the box so that their patients benefit by their association with medical practitioners. He said only if they think out of the box, medical practitioners would be able to achieve great heights in their profession and will be remembered for ever even after they are gone. Dr. Kalam spoke about two doctors who have made a difference in society by providing healthcare to rural people at a low cost. He narrated how Dr Solomon Chelliah of Lakshmeshwar, upgraded the CSI (Basel Mission) Hospital in Betgeri, Gadag district. The hospital is equipped with modern technology and is providing low-cost high-quality healthcare to rural people. The same way,Dr. Soma Raju of Bhimavaram area in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, played a key role in setting up the cardiac facility in the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr. Soma Raju has the historical distinction of performing the first balloon angioplasty procedure in India in 1985.
“Dr. Soma Raju has initiated innovative schemes to channelise the goodwill of the people to help poor patients get expensive medical treatment at a low cost. He has performed free corrective surgeries on 1,080 children born with congenital heart defects”, Dr. Kalam noted.
He administered the oath of medical profession to students assembled on the occasion and urged them to embark on the noble mission of extending medical facility to people who cannot afford it, diagnose the disease in patients on time so that they can be cured of it before it is too late, and treat at least 30 patients a year in rural areas, and educate people on preventive healthcare.
Chairman of Sri Devaraj Urs Education Trust (DUET) R.L. Jalappa delivered the presidential address.
