How often do you visit a government hospital? I'm willing to bet you're either thinking 'never' or 'hardly ever'. But here's a PG student from the University of Hyderabad who has been tirelessly working to #SaveGovtHospital for more than two years now. To this end, Shashidhar Vuppala, along with Surender Thallapelly and Srinivas Saladi, has made appeals to several cabinet ministers and has even written a letter to Telangana's Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. And their next step? Push for an appointment with the CM.
But why is he particularly passionate about government hospitals, we ask this young activist and before he explains himself, he quotes Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, "You need an educated, healthy workforce to sustain economic development." So, he wanted to concentrate on healthcare and contribute to the nation. Witnessing the number of underprivileged and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families that depend on government hospitals for their healthcare, the 25-year-old feels that, "the government needs to do more for them." He believes that healthcare for the poor should be made affordable and have quality. That isn't too much to ask for, is it?
So, how do they go about this? In today's world, hashtags of course — #SaveGovtHospital, #SaarkariDawakanSawal and #GovtHospitalChallenge — to create momentum for the campaign online on social media. And to practise what they preach, the trio has visited Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital for their general check-ups. Another way they believe that the attention and focus of the government can be drawn to government hospitals is if these hospitals receive patronage from public figures and celebrities *cue popular Telugu actor, Suman Talwar*.
"We appealed to him and through his Facebook page, he shared a few pointers on what people can do for this cause," says Vuppala and the hashtag #HeroSumanonGovtHospitals followed. Not only this, Shashidhar also believes that when public figures visit government hospitals, not just for inspection, but for health check-ups as well, it increases the faith of the general public in these hospitals. That's why when the Governor of the two Telugu-speaking states visited the state-run Gandhi Hospital for a health check-up in 2017, the trio celebrated. Also the fact that former District Collector of Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Akunuri Murali’s daughter delivered her baby in the local civil hospital. Surender Thallapelly opines that, "Apart from the Kanti Velugu Scheme (free eye check-up) provided by the Telangana government, they should provide free medication and surgeries. Also, the government needs to set up free diagnostic centres which will be helpful to the poor"
"We need more such examples to encourage the public to visit government hospitals," says the Hyderabadi lad because only when more and more people visit, will there be scope for improvement in infrastructure and quality. "It automatically makes the staff of these hospitals more careful and alert," he adds. I think I will do my bit to support #SaveGovtHospital and visit my neighbourhood government-run hospital for a check-up. Will you?
Two suggestions they offered in their letter to the CM
- Setting up committees, which include experts and activists, that monitor hospitals and visit them once in two months
- Promoting awareness of patient rights like 'to get treated fairly and promptly without any discrimination' by putting up posters in hospitals
