Public convention on "Better Healthcare Services" held

IMPHAL, Dec 7 : Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), Indian Medical Association (IMA), Manipur branch and Manipur Medical Council (MMC) jointly organised a one day public convention on "Better  Healthcare Services" at Imphal Hotel today.
The convention presided by COCOMI convenor Khuraijam Athouba and IMA, Manipur president Dr Simpson Sareo was moderated by MMC president Dr L Ranjit.
Addressing the event, former president of IMA, Manipur Dr RK Lenin stated that the convention was organised to explore ways to prevent misunderstandings between patient parties and medical practitioners.
Emphasising that healthcare requires active cooperation between medical practitioners, patients, and their families, he noted that people are often driven by emotions when unfortunate events occur.
In Manipur, it is common for people to blame, physically assault, or even kill drivers when a fatality occurs in a road accident, even if the driver is not at fault, he said, adding that drivers often refrain from taking legal action in such cases.
Blindly blaming individuals is not the right approach, Dr Lenin said and added that there are laws and regulations in place to address such situations.
Saying that the same applies to cases in healthcare systems too as there are laws to handle such situations, he reiterated that taking action based on emotions is not advisable.
He went on to say that it is the poor who suffer when medical practitioners go on strike, as those rich people can afford healthcare elsewhere.
Not all people in Manipur can afford healthcare in Delhi, Mumbai etc, he said.
Apart from addressing the issues of inadequate manpower, equipment, and machinery at both Government and private hospitals, Dr Lenin emphasized that medical practitioners and patient parties must cooperate to improve healthcare services.
There must be mutual respect and trust between patients and doctors, he continued.