The Trial of Binayak Sen
Why has The Lancet written an editorial about an
Indian pediatrician. Binayak Sen is no ordinary man – pediatrician,
socialist, revolutionary - almost the poster boy of the "socially
conscious doctor".
The story begins in Vellore. A pediatrician is trained
in Christian Medical College. He then goes to work for the rural poor in
Madhya Pradesh. Besides voluntary work he actively helps the government in
conceptualizing and designing various programs in Chhattisgarh which
finally go on to provide the model for the ASHA of the National Rural
Health Mission. He is even a member of the State Advisory Committee on
Health Sector Reforms at one time in Chhattisgarh. Then he becomes closely
involved in the setting up of a hospital for independent union of workers
in the iron ore mines. He is also the National Vice-President of the
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and General Secretary of its
Chhattisgarh unit. There he helps organize numerous investigations into
alleged human rights violations carried out during anti-Naxalite
operations.
On 14 May 2007, Sen is arrested in Bilaspur on the
charges of acting as a courier between jailed Naxalite leader Narayan
Sanyal and businessman Piyush Guha, also accused of having links with
Naxalites. Since his arrest there are protests from academics worldwide
including nobel laureates, editorials in the BMJ and The Lancet,
doctors all over India and even a call from Amnesty International to
immediately release him. He has been languishing in various jails till May
2009.
However on 24 December 2010, the Additional Sessions
and District Court finds him guilty of sedition for helping the Maoists in
their fight against the state and has again sentenced him to life
imprisonment.
Why should a man honoured with numerous awards
including the Paul Harrison award for a lifetime of service to the rural
poor, R.R. Keithan Gold Medal by The Indian Academy of Social Sciences,
Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights be subjected to
such trauma? Politics finally determines health on a very large scale so
to produce very powerful changes in public health and we as pediatricians
cannot remain isolated from politics. (The Hindu 9 January 2011, The
Lancet 8 January 2011)
Reforming the MBBS Program in India
Today the MBBS degree holder in India feels inadequate
to handle many common problems. Where are the lacunae? An 8 member Working
Group of the MCI chaired by George Mathew of the Christian Medical College
Vellore has come up with many laudable recommendations. It is proposed to
change the program into a competency based module with clinical training
from the first year itself. It has advised a detailed and extensive review
of the curriculum to remove what is obsolete and outdated. A major
integration of basic science, laboratory science and clinical medicine has
been mooted. Improving the link to local health system and Community
health centres, options for distance education in certain fellowships and
diplomas and focus on providing health care to the needy and disadvantaged
has also been highlighted. It has also suggested that the intake of
medical students be doubled to achieve the world average doctor population
ratio of 1.5: 1000 by 2031. (The Hindu 2 January 2011).
