Session 5 - Doctors - The Guardians of Session 5 - Human Survival & Angels of Peace (Special Session in times of Covid19)

Padma Shri Dr. Raman R Gangakhedkar - The learned speaker started by stating by what leaps and bounds medicine has grown which has resulted in the tripling of the average life expectancy in Asia over the last century. As much as death is a certainty, its date keeps getting pushed back due to the advances in medicine. The speaker then stated that the battlegrounds of yesteryears have now transformed and now it is the medical fraternity who are akin to soldiers and that the battleground is the hospital and isolation wards. He stated that the mortality rate in the health fraternity due to the Covid pandemic is ten times that of the general public, and yet this has not deterred the medical community from battling Covid. Now the older doctors take a back seat due to their increased susceptibility to the disease and take over ancillary responsibilities while the young doctors are the ones that step into the tractival battleground. The strategic one is managed by senior doctors and decision makers.

Dr. Avinash Bhondwe - The learned speaker started by stating the importance of good health to a nation and to a thriving economy. He then stated that the guardians of this is the health fraternity of the world. He then stated how the very definition of health has undergone transformation and in its current avatar, it can be construed as a right that is to be guaranteed. He then spoke about the various infectious diseases that have claimed millions of lives in the last century. He quoted tuberculosis, polio, SARS, malaria, avian flu, swine flu, ebola, nipah and many others. Then he explained the current Covid crisis and a pandemic and the importance of it being declared a pandemic and not an epidemic. He then stated how even before the first case of Cocid came to India, the medical fraternity in the country were already in the process of raising public awareness.

Padma Shri Dr. Darshan Shankar - The learned doctor began by analysing the choices that patients make when it comes to their treatment. The doctor is of the opinion that most individuals choose a plural approach to medicine where they put their faith in more than one system of medicine to treat themselves. He then elaborated on how Yoga and Ayurvedic medicinal systems look at the systematic view as opposed to the molecular view that westerm medicine espouses. He then spoke about how all of these are functional perspectives and thus there cannot be a singular system of medicine. He then spoke of how India is researching into the ayurvedic system of medicine and quoting examples where it has worked for individuals. The doctor summarises by stating that all medicinal systems have their own advantages and place in treatment and this must be holistically approached to come up with an integration of treatment methodologies for optimization and efficiency.

Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan - The learned speaker started by stating the importance of the topic at hand and of merging health and spirituality as well. He then spoke about how the remedial health practices that we are following are not preventive in nature and the biggest illusion that the populace ghas about healthcare is that taking medicines makes one healthy which is not at all the truth. He spoke of how Indian healthcare practices as encapsulated by Ayurveda and Yoga are actually excellent for health. He rues the fact that India lacks in finding an integrated approach to health and that other nations particularly China, Korea and Australia already have integrated healthcare models to holistically look to the health of the individuals. He also spoke about the urgency of providing primary healthcare in India, the lack of which is responsible for thousands of deaths a year. He also spoke about the dismal state of public health in India, and how much is to happen in that area. He also spoke about the fact that the basic reason to provide a medical education in India seems to be monetary