Every human being deserves the right to good healthcare. Unfortunately in spite of being one of the most medically advanced countries in the world, proper healthcare in India is still accessible to only three per cent (3%) of the population. When government resources are inadequate and people suffer as a direct result of it, it is time we came together to make a difference.
A big change begins with a small step. On August 15th 1973, a young MBBS graduate from Kasturba Medical College started his Sunday clinic in a village called Begur. Equipped with just his degree, the assistance of a compounder called Puttu and the determination to serve people, his clinic ran in a quiet corner 33 kilometres from Bangalore. Today, the small step has grown into a large movement that offers free healthcare to over 1000 patients each week. It has been 42 years and the young doctor has never missed a Sunday at his Begur clinic.
Meet Dr Ramana Rao – a Padmashree award recipient, who has turned his unrelenting will to serve into a revolution that has impacted over a one and a half million lives in more ways than one.
Call it the faith of the people in Dr Ramana Rao, or just lack of accessibility to healthcare, patients travel from villages as far as 100-150 kilometres away to get treated in the village clinic. Since the last 42 years, Dr Rao has been healing lives with only blessings in return. Free medicines and injections to over 900 patients every week, and over 5000 successful cataract surgeries are testimonies of the commitment of not letting money affect the right to healthcare. Donations, and his personal earnings, have helped this initiative in growing stronger and larger with the onset of every new week.
Dr Rao has always believed that there is more to care than just medicines. The Sunday morning begins with the sight of a long queue of people - most arrive the night before. The clinic starts with pranayama and yoga conducted in batches and patients are educated about personal care and overall hygiene, after which they are examined, and medicines, injections and nebulisation administered accordingly. Every patient is given holistic care to ensure an easy and quick recovery. In critical cases, patients are immediately transported to the closest major hospital. The last Sunday of the month is reserved for the eye camp. Cataract surgeries are performed on over 50 patients every week. At the end of the day all the patients are served a well-balanced, sumptuous meal, before they make the long journey back to their respective villages.
Illiteracy is to poverty what improper sanitation is to illness. To fight the root cause of poverty, Dr Rao supports over 50 schools with infrastructure, notebooks and uniforms. Besides that, over 700 toilets have been built for the use of families below the poverty line. Together, if we educate enough children and spread awareness about hygiene amidst as many families, we can strengthen the country’s backbone at the grass root levels.
