The Fact News Service
Ludhiana, September 29
Sanjeev Arora, Member Parliament (Rajya Sabha), on Thursday, attended Annual International Meeting organized by the Global Surgery India Hub based at Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), Ludhiana.
In this meeting, Doctors gave feedback on the Indian Health Care system and suggested how the Global Surgery India Hub could work towards translating its work to policy and implementation of improve surgical outcomes in cancer care for people in India as well as across the world.
In his address, Arora stressed on the need of making available affordable surgeries for the patients in the country. He also said that no doubt, a costly surgery could save the life of a patient but at the same time the patient comes under a heavy debt.
Arora also appreciated the research that avoids costly medicines to lesser further economic burden on the patients. He said there is also a need to work on another aspect that surgeries should be done only in those cases where there are maximum chances of survival of the patient.
He pointed out that affordable surgeries are very much important in our country. He stated that a surgeon must be very careful and alert at the time of surgery and if he finds himself not in a state of mind then it is better that he should postpone or defer the same. A thorough research on this matter also needed to be done, he suggested.
He said it was observed in the meeting that the Lancet Commission on global surgery has published that more than 5 billion people across the globe lack safe and affordable surgical care within Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs); this is 9 out of 10 people.
Arora asked the Global Surgery India Hub’s leaders to provide him a research-based document which could be put before the government to bring the required changes in policy. The document must carry all the details that the Global Surgery India Hub is looking for a change in the government policy, he said, adding that the government could initiate some action if it is provided in black and white.
According to experts’ present access to safe surgery is an essential component of health systems but has generally been neglected. There is a large unmet need for surgical care worldwide, with surgical conditions and treatments being poorly resourced. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accentuated the challenges associated with access to and provision of essential surgery. Where surgery is available, patients are 3 times more likely to die in LMICs after an operation than in high-income countries.
It was told in the meeting that surgeon scientists and researchers across 10 countries have joined hands to improve outcomes for surgical patients across the global south, this collaboration has the potential to save millions of lives through the delivery of better surgical care.
Christian Medical College & Hospital Ludhiana, in collaboration with the National Institute of Health and Research (NIHR) and The University of Birmingham in the UK, established a surgical research hub on Global Surgery at CMC Ludhiana in 2019 which is working towards the data-based improvement of surgical care and outcomes as well as cancer care in India, especially in the state of Punjab.
With the Covid-19 pandemic abating, this year the Global Surgery India Hub today held its annual meeting at Ludhiana to discuss the outcomes of work and prioritize the areas of cancer research where more focus is needed.
Arora appreciated the work being done by Dr Philip Alexander in Himachal Pradesh.
The meeting was attended by Caroline Rowett, Deputy British High Commissioner UK, Professor Dion Morton – Co Director Global Surg Unit, University of Birmingham, Professor Ewen Harrison – HOD Surgery – University of Edinburgh, Professor Dhruv Ghosh – Hub Director – India, Professor Parvez Haque – Deputy Hub Director – GSU India Hub, Dr Amit Gulrez – Medical Superintendent, Dr Philip Alexander – LWH Manali, Dr Nitin Batra – Dep Director – CMC Ludhiana, Neeraj Satija Convener CII Punjab -CSR and Sr.Vice president -Police Public Foundation and Ashpreet Sahni – Past Chairman – CII Ludhiana.
