Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Make health care holistic: Kalam

VVIP visit: Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam leaving the campus of Dr. Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences in the city on Thursday.

VIJAYAWADA: Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Thursday appealed to doctors and researchers not to look at healthcare as just treatment of disease, but actively consider ways and means to ensure a feeling of “complete physical, mental and social wellbeing” of individual patients.

Addressing the inaugural function of telemedicine facility at Dr. Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation (PSIMS&RF) at Chinna Avutapalli near here, Dr. Kalam said there was a considerable change in medical syllabi across the world as lack of integration between body and mind was found to be a cause of disease.

He pointed out that spiritual health was being incorporated as the fourth dimension of total healthy living.

Dr. Kalam referred to the subject of detection of drug resistance as one of the major clinical challenges before the world now and non-response to drugs would pose serious problems for patients with cardio-vascular diseases and those having coronary stents. Unfortunately, 25 per cent of population had resistance to aspirin, which was being used for 300 years in treatment of patients with coronary artery, cerebro-vascular and other diseases, he added.

The former President underscored the need for introducing and imparting courses on healthy lifestyle in medical colleges, as it would be the best way to spread awareness of the effectiveness of life style interventions necessary for patients.

Dr. Kalam advised the PSIMS&RF to create a website for medical sciences so that a common platform would become available to provide connectivity amongst all medical professionals and its alumni all over the world. He said case studies should be documented and novel diagnostic techniques should be explored to treat patients.

Dr. Kalam also advised the institute to make a provision for common people to discuss their specific problems with a panel of specialist doctors and generate a database so that it could be used for treating similar patients, besides making treatment of such diseases less costly and more affordable.

Siddhartha Academy of General and Technical Education President B. Rama Rao, Secretary P.L.N. Prasad, and others were present.

Dr. Kalam had a lively and thought-provoking interaction with the medical students, who raised various important topics like the goals before the youth and the future challenges for the country. To a question, he said that the youth should shoulder the responsibility to eliminate corruption.

Dr. Kalam administered a five-point oath to students and sought to impress upon them the need for following ethics in medical practice. In a light-hearted manner, he repeatedly drew the attention of doctors not to put patients to what he called “diagnostic pain” and avoid making patients to spend their money on all sorts of needless tests. He advised the doctors to go to rural areas and treat 20 rural patients a year.

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