Mangaluru: Republic Day marks the anniversary of the Constitution of India and the transition of the country from a British Dominion to an Independent Republic. On this sovereign 70th Republic Day of India, Professor Dr B.P.Shelley, MBBS, MD, DM, FRCP Edin of Yenepoya Medical College said, “I deem it to be an ‘unforgettable chapter’ for us to be insightful to remember with gratitude, the freedom fighters and great souls who gave us Independence after about 100 imperial British Empire rule.”
He then gave his salutations to our Indian Army, India’s brave hearts. “The selfless men and the struggles they endure every day so that you and I can Sleep in Peace. The brave hearts that guard our strategic International borders from the Siachen Glacier, 20 000 feet above sea level with weather temperatures of minus 50°C to the blazing heat from Rajasthan desert of 45-50°C. Our Indian Army are therefore exceptionally Extraordinary. Hence, today we as citizens of this Republic, as stakeholders, must pledge to cherish our Nationalism, Republican values and be a Responsible Indian,” he said.
He then expressed his gratitude to the ancient Indians who taught us how to count. “Without this, most modern scientific discoveries would have been impossible,” he stated.
He then called upon his fellow citizens to reminisce and not lose sight of our ancient roots in Science, Technology and Education.
“India’s invention of Zero, Decimal System, Binary numbers are truly remarkable. The contributions made by Aryabhatta, the Father of Indian mathematics and astronomer did expound the Heliocentric theory even before Copernicus; and Ancient India as a Hub of Education exemplified by the Ancient residential Universities of Nalanda and Takshashila were the first IITs and MITs of the world. Aryabhatta is believed to have been the head of the Nalanda University. Our young Indians should have many more dreams that our forefathers dreamt, and we need to teach our children to feel responsible as Indians in order to ‘Build an India of Our Dreams’ in the next 20 years,” he said.
He then said that as a ‘feeling and humanistic physician’, he wanted to highlight two issues that have been close to his heart- (1) the Indian public health crisis and (2) a Crisis in emotionally inclusive care.
“Firstly, we have a mammoth task in the organization of health care delivery systems in India. We have ‘too many patients, not enough doctors’, staggering health care costs, out-of-pocket expenditure, iatrogenic poverty, poor penetration of health insurance schemes, with herculean challenges of equity, capacity and funding for Universal Health Coverage. Furthermore, India has epidemic proportions of ‘Triple Disease’ Burden i.e. Communicable, Non Communicable, and Nutritional Disorders, not to mention “Lifestyle Diseases’. All this translates to an increase in DALY rates (for DM, IHD etc) and Premature Mortality. When compared to the other countries in the world, India spends a meager 1.15% of GDP for “Health Care Financing” when UK, USA, Japan, Switzerland, Norway, Germany spends8-9% per capita income on health financing. Sadly, therefore we have an abysmal health system with poor Health Indices. However, it is reassuring that Universal Health Coverage in India has now gained momentum by ModiCare (National Health Prevention Scheme) and ‘Ayushman Bharat Scheme’ for inclusive comprehensive care at Health Centres in India.
“The next ‘area’ close to my heart is to emphasize upon the ‘footprints’ of our Ancient Indian Medicine and Healing Systems. We must remember our great Indian physicians: Sushruta (Father of Indian Surgery), Charaka (Father of Indian Medicine) and an Ayurvedic physician, who was a product of Takshashila University. Ayurveda is indeed the ‘mother of all healing sciences’.Our ancient wisdom of Science and medicine have been chiselled in the Annals of Medicine 150 years even before the times of Hippocrates. What is the relevance of this today?” he asked.
Sadly, even after the colonial influence, we still continue to drift away from our Ancient Indian Medicine and we are “barking up the wrong tree” of ‘elephanomics’ and ‘scientism’ of Western Medicine, he said. Therefore, as an Indian, he stresses that there must be a revival, modern scientification and, integration of our Ancient Indian Systems of Medicine to mainstream healthcare in India. “This would ensure economically sustainable, cost-effective, and accessible quality healthcare for our ‘Bharatians’ where 70% live in ‘rural’ India,” he added.
“As I began my medical career, we were taught how the normal body works in terms of anatomy and physiology. The next we are taught was ‘disease’ and how to combat it with pathogenesis. We are still ingrained in the Western scientific orthodoxy of the ‘disease pathogenesis model’, and ‘technocratic’ medicine. But we are not taught how the ‘normal health’ is maintained, what I call as the ‘Wheel of Wellness’ or ‘Salutogenic Health’. Medical schools should focus on ‘Peace Politics’ of Defining Wellness and its Determinants, and have renewed focus on a holistic ‘bio-psycho-social-spiritual model’ of ‘health promotion’ and ‘well-being’ that is well entrenched in our Ancient Indian Healing Systems. The ‘Wellness concept’ is so elegantly enshrined in Ayurveda as ‘Swassthasya Swasthya Rakshanam’ meaning ‘to promote, preserve health of the well and enhance the quality of life’,
“I reiterate that the future of ‘health of mankind’ lies in emphasizing health promotion, preventive and pre-emptive health strategies,” he said.
He lamented that, in his journey as a doctor, he has seen a ‘de-humanized and social-disconnectedness’ in the practice of ‘technomedicine’ today. “Therefore, I see a ‘crisis in caring’; a ‘crisis in healing’ in the very fabric of our healthcare systems resulting from a ‘crisis in what we do not get to learn’ from our ‘western indoctrinated’ medical schools. We need to LEARN, UNLEARN and RE-LEARN to ‘take care’ to bring CARE for a patient and relationship centered medicine. By CARE, I mean, “emotionally inclusive care”, with the acronym for CARE standing for Compassion, Altruism, Relationship Centeredness and
Empathy. I believe medical educators should teach about the ‘Care effect’ of therapeutic empathy, Medical Humanism, and the ‘art of doctoring’ to ‘dehumanize’ medical care in India. I do recognize that ‘several values’ are indeed forgotten in the ‘art of doctoring’, and are not taught in Medical schools from a ‘Value-based Medicine’ perspective, not purely a science from the ‘Evidence Based Medicine’,” he said.
“Homosapiens are pro-social beings and we are ‘homo-empatheticus’. In a proverbial sense, I would, therefore, sense the need for medical curricula to move from the ‘head to the heart’. This would foster ‘torch bearers’ of ‘whole patient-centered care’ and, thus not sacrificing our humanity in the process of patient care. This will usher in a renaissance for global and national awakenings to create a renaissance in the ‘healing revolution’, harnessing such potentials from our rich ancient wisdom of Science and Medicine,” he added.
After having been in the profession for about three decades, Professor Dr B.P.Shelley fervently believes that the Practice of Medicine is a ‘Soul-full Art’ and not ‘Just a Science’. Such an ‘art’ has the inherent potential to awaken ‘the innate intelligence’ of the marvelous human body, he says.
“My ideology of a ‘healing scientism’ is that of an eclecticism philosophy, one that integrates ‘pluralistic theories’ of ‘ancient/traditional’ and ‘modern’ medical knowledge re-orienting ourselves to a ‘multicultural whole person medicine’ with ‘High-Touch Care’. We must encourage ‘Perestroika’ between ‘Western Medicine’ and ‘Ancient Indian Systems of Medicine of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH). I reiterate that Medicine, at its heart, must have a ‘human touch’, that I call as ‘Hi-Touch Medicine’, that should not be governed by ‘cold science’ alone,” he added.
He then wished that everyone would hold high the ‘Republican values’ and the ancient Indian ethos, foster ‘innovation and discoveries’ to re-invent India that will capture the world’s imagination once again.
By Professor Dr B.P.Shelley, MBBS, MD, DM, FRCP Edin
Fellowship in Behavioural Neurology (UK)
Fellowship in Cognitive Neurology and Disorders of Movement and Cognition (UK)
Editor in Chief, Archives of Medicine and Health Sciences Journal
Professor and Head
Department of Neurology
Yenepoya Medical College
Yenepoya (deemed to be) University (NAAC accredited Grade ‘A’ University), Mangaluru
