India not only has school dropouts, but also “health dropouts”, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Shantha Sinha said here on Tuesday.
Delivering the convocation address at Father Muller Charitable Institutions, Ms. Sinha said the Union government had prepared a comprehensive document on universal health care that detailed issues concerning the health care system and personnel within it. The document stated that a number of patients would discontinue their medical treatment because they could not afford it.
“India not only has school dropouts, it also has medical dropouts,” Ms. Sinha said. She urged new medical and nursing graduates to ensure that patients did not discontinue their treatment as “We cannot lose anyone of them. Each life is important.”
Illustrating with the story of a boy from Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh who travelled two days to Hyderabad for chemotherapy, Ms. Sinha said the 10-year-old had to think of his bus fare and his mother's wages before he could think about his medical treatment.
She said the report also outlined the problems doctors and nurses faced while discharging their work.
However, she urged them “never to lose sight of the (medical) oath” as “professional ethics were very important”. A total of 500 students obtained their graduate and postgraduate degrees in nursing, homeopathic medicine, medicine, and allied sciences. Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Medical Sciences K.S. Sriprakash, Vice-Minister of Heath of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Madalena F.M. Hanjan Da Costa Soares and Bishop of Mangalore Rev. Aloysius Paul D'Souza were present.
D.B. Sanjeev Rai Best Dissertation Award was given to medical student Indira S. for 2011, Archana Kaveri B. was given the Most Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras Prize for securing highest marks in the final MBBS Part I university examination held in December 2010, Lanisha Sharon d'Souza stood first in her nursing students' batch of 2010, and Mascarenhas Hazel Emma was awarded Late Fr. Lawrence V.M. Fernandes Memorial Prize for securing highest marks in physiotherapy course.
