Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A child in need of surgery, but, there is a shortage of paediatric surgeons. . This alarming situation is at 500 s hospitals out of 800 district hospitals across the country.
Only 300 places have paediatric surgeons. Three out of every hundred children have a congenital disorder. Nearly 80,000 children are born in the country every day. Of them, 2400 to 3,000 children have congenital disorders. They need surgery. However, surgeries for congenital disorders are not covered under the insurance scheme. Moreover, the number of paediatric surgeons and paediatric urologists is only 1600 in the country. Efforts are being made by the Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons (IAPS) to control this situation.
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The IAPS recently celebrated its 58th foundation day December 29.
Even after 50 years, there is a huge gap in the health care of newborns as the ratio of availability of paediatric surgeons and paediatric urologists and patients requirement does not match.
It is unfortunate for a country of 1.5 billion people that the infant mortality rate cannot be brought under control. Ten per cent of child deaths are due to birth defects and lack of surgery.
The state-of-the-art technology is available in paediatric surgery and paediatric urology
for foetal surgery to neonatal surgery.
However, it is necessary to take this technology to the grassroots level in rural areas. This is only possible when the number of paediatric surgeons increases.
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Number of paediatric surgeons
--There is no paediatric surgery department in 500 out of 800 district hospitals in the country.
Paediatric surgeons have no job security despite years of learning and training. The national level organisation is now trying to ensure that a paediatric surgeon is appointed in every district hospital of the country. The organisation has undertaken a campaign to appoint paediatric surgeons to every district hospital.
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Insurance cover
-- Under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, certain congenital disorders get insurance.
However private insurance companies do not provide insurance cover. Only thirty percent of paediatric
patients who are below the poverty line get the benefit of Ayushman Bharat Yojana while other children cannot undergo surgery due to financial constraints and die. The cost of such surgeries runs into lakhs. The patients of -the middle-class section cannot afford it.
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-- A National Conference of Paediatric Surgeons was held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar a few months ago. At that time, the first paediatric surgeon of Marathwada and union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karand presented the situation at the conference.
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--He promised to resolve the issue by holding a meeting with the union Health Minister, insurance company officials and senior officers of the Association to get the surgery insurance covered.
A meeting was held in Delhi on January 4. The insurance issue will be resolved soon. Also, corresponded with Debasish Panda, the Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.