Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 5: Focusing his resolve to adopt a holistic health model encompassing modern medical advancement and traditional health expertise to contain the onset of cardiovascular diseases in rural areas, Dr. Sushil Sharma, HoD Cardiogoly, GMC Jammu and his team conducted a day long health camp in remote Gujroo Nagrota area of Billawar District.
Contrary to the idealized notion that people in rural areas are much healthier than their urban counterparts, he said that the health indices in rural areas are constantly soaring. Apart from the interplay of various physical and economic factors viz. accessibility and affordability, the shift in rural lifestyle and loss of traditional health expertise too contributed in the rise of various morbidities and mortalities in such areas.
More than 250 people were screened, evaluated, diagnosed and free medicines were given as per the requirements
While interacting with the people, Dr Sushil stated that in the present scenario, Indian rural health care faces a crisis unmatched to any other social sector. Nearly 80% of all medical visit in India are made by ruralites with majority still travelling more than 100 kilometers to avail health care facility of which 70-80% is born out of pocket landing them in poverty. Though existing infrastructural setup for providing health care in rural areas is on a right track, yet the qualitative and quantitative availability of primary health care facilities is far less than the defined standards as suggested by various international and national agencies.
He stressed that merely focusing on improving health infrastructure in rural areas is not sufficient, there is high need to tap the traditional medical practices and medicines as prevalent in particular localities for preventive, curative and protective health care. “Knowledge about the causes of disease and indigenous plant medicine, consumption of subsistence crops, is an important element in preventive, protective and curative health care, he added.
Others who were part of this compassionate move included Dr. Nasir Ali Choudhary (Cardiologist) and Dr Dhaneshwar Kapoor. Paramedics and volunteers who were part of the team included, Raghav Rajput, Kamal Sharma, Vikas Kumar, Gourav Sharma, Rohit Chalotra, Rajinder Singh, Akshay Kumar, Maninder Singh, Manav Khurana and Raj Kumar.
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