'Can't rely on MBBS for village clinics'

The governments should legalise and encourage alternate methods of treating rural patients at their doorsteps. These methods should be identified and legalised as it generates employment for rural youth. They can be paid for by the gram panchayats or zilla panchayats, or paying members.

The appointees can handle the basic hospital clinical equipment and look after patients and thus become the backbone or network for the smooth functioning of telemedicine in the country.

But government rules allow only MBBS doctors to man and operate clinics, said Dr Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya, in his keynote address at the launch of PricewaterhouseCoopers' 'HealthCast 2020: Creating a Sustainable Future' in Bangalore.

"You can never build a sound rural healthcare programme in the country with the dependence on doctors with MBBS degrees, hence the government should look for alternate routes or methods," he added.

In India, 18,000 doctors graduate with MBBS, of these 45 per cent continue to do their post-graduation and the balance 55 per cent spend 5 years to 7 years trying to enter post-graduation by writing entrance examinations endlessly. These 55 per cent can be mobilised to take up rural duty.

To broaden the reach of rural healthcare, Narayana Hrudayalaya with the help of Biocon Foundation and in collaboration with ICICI Lombard General Insurance has launched 'Arogya Raksha Yojana', a health insurance scheme for rural people.

As part of the scheme, a clinic comprising of three rooms (telemedicne, laboratory and biocare pharmacy) are to be built. About 200 such clinics are planned in the country.

"To build and operate the model, we are facing a shortage of MBBS docors. It is here that we are calling for relaxation of rules or are looking for alternate methods to run the clinics," he said. About 17,900 patients have been treated through telemedicine so far.