‘Swasthya Param Sampad’: Affordable Health Mission By GNRC Hospitals In Northeast India
By
Nava Thakuria, New Age Islam
27 May 2024
Providing
value-added healthcare facilities to everyone with a reasonable expenditure can
create a magical world, where the prevention of epidemics, reduction of the
burden from non-communicable diseases and improvement of healthcare management
for the women, children and elderly individuals will be easier. When the lack
of affordable healthcare pushes millions of Indian families to below the
poverty line every year and thus jeopardizes the government’s mission to uplift
the economy of poor families, an initiative like the Affordable Health Mission
by GNRC hospitals under the leadership of Dr Nomal Chandra Borah in northeast
India (NE) can make a sense.
AHM shows a
light at the end of the tunnel as it helps common people accessing an
affordable, accessible and quality healthcare service. So it may be termed as a
dawn of hope for those economically downtrodden families in far eastern part of
the populous country. A brief biography of Dr NC Borah, who was born in a
marginal farmer’s family of eastern Assam to become one of the best-known
neurologists across the south Asian nation, depicts a dream to be realized with
an affordable health benefit to millions of poor families in northeast India.
Published by Chennai-based Notion Press, the biography is titled ‘Hope dawns in
the East’ and co-authored by Mumbai-based communication professionals Arnab
Mukherjee and Sushmita Sarkar.
Highlighting
the promise of ‘Health for all, smiles for all’, the book comprises some
articles, penned by Dr Borah, on various pertinent issues like improving
medical education system, dealing with the shortage of specialist doctors,
highlighting the patient’s right to have a second medical opinion, troubles
created by many doctors’ illegible handwriting in prescriptions, if healthcare
is a science of medicines or an art of healing, etc. Dr Borah passionately argued in his pieces
that health is a fundamental human right and it’s critical for human dignity.
Several
photographs including Dr Borah’s father Karneswar Borah and mother Kanaklata
Borah are incorporated in the book. His close association with legendary musician
Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika and Jnanpith awardee author Dr Indira (Mamoni
Raisom) Goswami is also reflected in the selected photographs. Former President
Pranab Mukherjee, former State chief ministers Tarun Gogoi and Sarbananda
Sonowal and many other luminaries are also seen with Dr Borah along with his
adorable family comprising wife Dr Jayshree Borah, two daughters Priyanka &
Satabdee and son Madhurjya.
GNRC group
of hospitals was established in 1987 to cater the needs of nearly 60 million
people in northeast Bharat. Dr Borah
later expanded its network of hospitals with a unit at Sixmile (Guwahati),
another at Dispur, one more at Barasat (West Bengal) and a unique one in North
Guwahati. A pool of community health workers was also created to promote
healthcare in rural and semi-urban areas.
The group not only supports the patients under Ayushman Bharat (PM Jan
Arogya Yojana) and Atal Amrit Abhiyan, sponsored by the Union government in New
Delhi and State government in Dispur, but also extends free medical care to all
accident & emergency patients for the first 24 hours.
The unique
initiative supplements the government mission to offer quality healthcare
facilities at an affordable cost through different initiatives. Similarly, its
Telehealth helps the patients in distant places to consult with GNRC
specialists as and when needed. The soft-spoken gentleman asserts that a large
volume of patients suffer because of preventable diseases and many can avoid
hospitalizations if offered timely medical care to them. Most of the patients
arrive at hospitals after the diseases become complicated due to delayed care.
A healthy population is essential for socio-economic growth, asserted Dr Borah
adding that good health of each person emerges as a priority for peace,
happiness and prosperity of a nation.
An ancient
saying ‘Swasthya Param Sampad’ now emerges as a relevant learning for
the entire human race in the post-corona era. Over eight billion human beings
understood the real face of life & death during the horrible Covid-19 days
as the powerful, intelligent and articulate community locked inside and counted
the number of casualties. Around the world, there are still one billion people
who lack access to healthcare facilities.
It needs a multi-dimensional effort empowering different sections in the
society and continuous advocacy along with societal collaboration to create a
healthier population. The international organisations, local governments,
healthcare initiators, etc here can make a real and deserving difference.
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Nava Thakuria is a northeast India-based
professional journalist who is an engineering graduate.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism