Re: India planned to recruit around Seven Lac Health Care Providers at Rural Level

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

/message/8840

I read Dr. Jolly's e-mail regarding shortage of doctors and other health

workers. I do not agree that there is a shortage.

In my case I was a WHO consultant for leprosy. After eliminating leprosy from

Maharashtra and Karnataka I had applied for a suitablle appointment in HIV\AIDS

to various agencies but sorry to say that I did not get a positive reply even

from one soucre.

In a nut shell, I have 31 years of Public Health experience In the army. This

also took me to serve in the United Nations Peace keeping Force in Cambodia,

where I intitially manged the running of their Health Ministry as the country

was reeling under war for 1t5 years and all the intellectuals were either killed

or fled the country due to the fear of PolPot.

I coordinated the activities of the NGOs in that country. Earlier while still in

Army I was deputed to Bhutan for 2 years on an another Health Mission. I am a

Recognised post graduate teacher of Pune University with ten years of teaching

experience. Still i am not finding a suitable appointment.

I have great interest in combating HIV\AIDS and served in the National AIDS

Research institute (NARI) but once it comes to appointment people only think of

a person who has 10-15 years experience in HIV\AIDS only.

I personally feel if somone has managed one health programme efficiently he is

capable of managing other health programmes too.

But I think people do not understand this. Secondly they have no knowledge of

functioning in Army and hence they conveniently ignore ones Army experience.

Hence I am still struggling to serve humanity honestly and to the best of my

capabilities. Are there any takers?

With regards

Yours sincerely

Lt.Col. (Dr.)S.S.Verma (Retd.)

e-mail: <suren_verma@...>

[Guest guest]

[There are several response to Dr. Avinish Jolly’s posting on health care

provider scarcity. Though, this is a very important health care issues, please

note, this is an HIV/AIDS specific discussion forum. Focus your discussion on

the implications of health care provider scarcity on HIV response. Thank you.

Editor.]

Dear FORUM,

Re: /message/8840

I fully endorse the points raised by Dr. Verma his mail. People in this country

don't bother much about Army experience and experiences of working and managing

the difficult primary health care system and highly demotivated govt. officials

posted in the district and subdistrict level.

I learnt STI/HIV prevention in a very hard way while serving the Indian Navy as

a SSC MO. I joined the Armed Forces way back in 1992 just after my housemanship

and immediately after the basic training (MOBC, NO, Naval Medicine) thrown into

a sailing ship where a number of sailors landed with STIs.

Being an thoroughly inexperienced medical professional in STI/HIV control and

without any formal training that time I learnt the trick of the trade by making

many mistakes and able to halt STIs among the sailors within 1 year time.

Fortunately or unfortunately there was nobody in the ship or command to guide me

to STI control because HIV problem was just emerging that time and people also

were sitting with limited knowledge on STI/HIV prevention.

Today I am a confident and competent STI/HIV professional.

It is a pity that people think (especially in India) ex Army doctors are only

fit for doing administrative jobs like running the hospital administration. They

often forget Army doctors work under many stressful and resource-limited

situations, hard-to-reach locations, conflict and war zones and provide

comprehensive services including preventive, promotive, curative and emergency

health care. If absorbed in national/international public health programs they

have the potential to do wonders.

Secondly I always disagree with the fact that there are not enough doctors in

the health systems. People probably do not know huge number of doctors become

jobless after their graduation (Medical graduation with basic training takes 6-7

years time while an MBA/PhD take much lesser time). That time they grab whatever

jobs they get.

A job in the public health system remains as a dream for many because of its

complicated and prolong recruitment process. (I know about one of my friends who

worked in a remote PHC of West Bengal as an ad hoc MO for 5 years but never

absorbed permanently after that). After all doctors are also human beings and

have to feed themselves and families.

Today there are many doctors working in small and medium NGOs and private

sectors being grossly underpaid. Many of them, with good opportunities can make

real difference in the public health field.

But the issue is who will give them the chances to prove their skill?

In my 16 years long professional career in public health and clinical practice I

have come across a number of extremely dedicated and strongly motivated medical

professionals in NGO sectors, Primary Healt Centers and District Hospitals who

are working day and night for the needy and ailing people. Their contribution to

the National Health Programs is phenomenal (one of the examples: Surveillance

Medical Officers of National Polio Surveillance Project of India).

But it is a fact that when they apply for big national/international level jobs,

their applications, many a times are not even considered for short listing.

Dr Verma, I am one such medical professional who struggled day & night to reach

an international position today. Being a junior colleague of AMC I can only say

" Knock, Knock and Knock the door till it Breaks for you " . How can I forget our

learning in AMC Training School that AMC doctors are double-edged sword – a

soldier and a doctor.

Today the country is more inclined to decentralize and privatize health systems.

This is going to be a big disaster in future. India should take lessons from

countries like Cuba and China to strengthen its public health system and make it

competent to fight any epidemic. Producing thousands of doctors without any

concrete policy to recruit them promptly into many vacant positions of the

public health systems does never make a solution of manpower shortage.

After all there is already a global concensus that without effectively

functional public health and primary healthcare systems disease control programs

with some vertical initiatives by the support of the external fundings can yield

nothing in the long run.

With warm regards and best wishes,

Dr Sugata Mukhopadhyay

Nepal

e-mail: <sugataids@...>