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Fighting discrimination
in healthcare Chandigarh, March 10 In Chandigarh for a seminar today, Dr Sawraj Singh, the first non white to practice in the county of Kittitas, talked to The Tribune about the crisis in healthcare delivery in the USA. The country, despite spending 14 per cent of its GDP on healthcare, has one of the poorest infant mortality, maternal mortality and life expectancy in the world. Holding globalisation and the consequent changes in social and cultural values responsible for the mess, Dr Sawraj, also Chairman, Washington State Network for Human Rights, said healthcare was one of the burning election issues in the USA, which has over 45 million people still awaiting access to healthcare. “Globalisation is a major cause as it widens the gulf between the rich and the poor within the country. In case of minorities, the statistics for infant mortality and maternal mortality in the USA are worse than many in Third World countries. In fact, the healthcare delivery system is quite fragmented. Institutionalised racism exists in the medical profession and health care providers belonging to the minority communities are subjected to discrimination by insurance companies and hospitals. Also the minorities are less likely to get the level of care as Whites. Unpaid medical bills are the highest cause of bankruptcy in the USA. As a human rights activist, I deal with such cases,” said Dr Sawraj. Asked if he was banking on the Indian spirituality to deal with problems posed by globalisation, Dr Sawraj admitted, “Post September 11, the levels of stress and trauma touched the sky. No wonder the society reverted to spirituality. The role of spirituality as a stress buster has never been as significant in America as it has been after September 11. I have written about the link between stress and spirituality in some of my books”. Dr Sawraj also referred to a recent study by a Seattle-based doctor, who has shown that a society with an increasing disparity suffered from a consistent decline in health rates. Further, a research at Harvard has confirmed that immunity of a person was directly proportional to his level of compassion. Said Dr Sawraj, “Compassion is, however, lacking in most of the advanced societies which exemplify globalisation in the best possible manner. We are still fighting racism. Although the Indians have the highest per capita income in America, they are discriminated against. There were cases where after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the airline authorities asked the minorities to de-board, on grounds that the Whites were not comfortable in their company. Thousands of lawsuits in this regard are still pending,” informed Dr Sawraj, whose “Apply Humanism to Medicine” philosophy is being bought at several fora. He has also succeeded in promoting the topic as a crucial subject for many surgical congresses. Further, to help America accept its multiracial nature, Dr Sawraj regularly hosts two celebrations every year. These include Diversity Day, which has been recognised by the President of America and Humanity Day, which manages the attendance of the Governor of Washington.  |
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Experts link disease spread to globalisation Chandigarh, March 10 The discussion, held at the seminar hall of Punjab Book Store, Sector 22, dwelled on drugs, migration, lack of proper healthcare for women and disregard for environment. After Mr Manmohan Singh, executive director of the VHAP, welcomed the speakers, Dr N.P. Manocha, Director, Family Welfare, UT, initiated the discussion by talking about the spread of HIV/AIDS on account of globalisation. Dr Sawraj Singh, a visiting expert from the US, talked of disparity and deprivation as the two major consequences of globalisation. Taking the idea further, Dr Amarjeet Singh Minhas from the Department of Community Medicine, PGI, said migration due to globalisation was resulting in the spread of diseases from developed to developing countries. He said changes in lifestyle due to globalisation were the prime cause of obesity, heart attacks and diabetes in the developing world. Dr Krishan Vij, Head of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Chandigarh, said the changes were adversely affecting the health of women, both on reproductive and mental levels. Prof C.S. Gautam of Government Medical College talked at length about drug addiction. He also referred to the fast-food culture and the resultant decline in health standards as a cause of stress and disease. “Declining immunity is the result of consumerism, which takes us away from spiritualism,” he said. Dr N.K. Goel of the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, linked environment with health. |
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Ayurvedic docs hold sammelan Chandigarh, March 10 |
Polytechnic athletics meet begins Chandigarh, March 10 Various heats in races were organised. Ms Usha Mahajan, Principal of the polytechnic, highlighted the achievements of the college in sports. She said more than 150 students were taking part in the meet. Under-16 tourney A rural sports tournament in the under-16 age group will be organised by the Sports Department, Chandigarh Administration, on March 16 and 17 at the Sports Complex, Sector 46. Events will be held in athletics, kabaddi, wrestling and volleyball. Mr J.S. Nagi, organising secretary, said entries would be accepted through the sarpanch of the village by the sports official concerned till March 15. Captain’s day Ms Gaitri M.M. Singh, Lady Captain of Chandigarh Golf Club, will celebrate Captain’s day on March 18, as she will be completing her tenure in the first week of April. Prizes will be distributed to all winners and runners-up of monthly medal round of the ladies section. The day will start with the medal round, including chip and putt, longest drive and closest to pin contests. The Captain’s day will conclude with the prize distribution function at 7 p.m.
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Sidhu wins gold at veteran meet Chandigarh, March 10 Capt Sidhu (73) participated in the 70+ category in the championship. He had earlier won the gold medal at the 24th Punjab Veterans Athletic Meet held at Mastuana Sahib, Sangrur, in November. He had participated in the meet for the first time. Capt Sidhu retired as the Joint Director, Public Relations Department, Punjab, in 1990. He is also a practising lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He attributes his fitness to determination and hard work. Besides jogging and cycling daily, he also lifts weights. He will now represent India at the Asian Veterans Athletic Meet to be held in Bangkok later this year. |
DC inspects MC account books Mohali, March 10 Mrs Jain specifically inquired about the council’s maintenance of account books following audit report about the council not keeping these records properly. Accompanied by the SDM Mohali, Mr M.L. Sharma, Mrs. Jain also asked the council chief to solve the problem of Sector 68, residents who had threatened to go on a chain fast in case the council did not pay them back amount charged from them as octroi on their electricity bills. The DC also asked the council to computerise the GPF collections of its employees and also provide her with the list of all development works done by the council. |
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Tax survey at book shop Chandigarh, March 10 Till the filing of the report, the survey was in progress. Yesterday, a survey was carried out at a major toy store in Sector 22. The surveys are being carried out on suspicion of discrepancies in the stocks of the stores. |
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TRIBUNE IMPACT Mohali, March 10 Stating this, Mr Sanjay Kumar, CA, PUDA, informed that he had deployed the Director Quality Control, PUDA to conduct the inquiry and report why the road had broken down within three months of its recarpeting. PUDA had spent Rs 16 lakh to recarpet the road. Meanwhile, the engineering wing has started repairing the 2-km-long road. An engineer is supervising the work. An engineer who had supervised the repair work before the President’s visit stated that the time given to them to recarpet the road was very short. Hence it did not last long. ‘‘We had asked for permission to use bitumen mix to recarpet the road then, but were asked to use premix. The cost of the total project was brought down from Rs 68 lakh to Rs 16 lakh. Black topping during winters is also never recommended, he said. Reacting to the report that the standard of works in the new sectors 76 to 80 being developed by PUDA was not up to the mark, engineers supervising the work visited the site. One of these engineers, who did not want to be named, said that the stormwater pipes had been checked and the links had been cemented properly. ‘‘The manhole seen in the picture in the newspaper report will be repaired by the contractor. It had broken due to a roadroller that went over it and had nothing to do with the quality of the material used,’’he added. |
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Election Dept launches website Chandigarh, March 10 The Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer, Mr Arun Kumar, said this website would provide information on the model code of conduct, electronic voting machine, electoral system and other related statistics. The website has complete date of electoral roll of the Chandigarh Parliamentary constituency along with details of the polling stations, Mr Arun Kumar said. Besides, it has the organisational structure and other details about the procedures and forms of the Election Department. |
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