Bangalore, 09 December 2023: The Chief Guest, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare – Sri Dinesh Gundu Rao Ji graced the Valedictory Session of the Global Health Conference 2023, organised by India’s First Free Private Rural Medical College – Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SMSIMSR) in association with All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
The Conference was designed on the theme – ‘Augmenting Synergies for Universal Healthcare’ at Sathya Sai Grama on 08-09 December 2023. The Minister presented the ‘Gift of Life’ certificates to two children who were treated at SMSIMSR. ‘Gift of Life’ is a ceremony which was instituted by Sri Madhusudan Sai across all his hospitals, where those who are saved through surgeries are celebrated. The Hospital provided baby Malashree sepsis NICU management in addition to pre-term birth management care. The child was kept in the NICU for 26 days, absolutely free of all costs! Six-year-old Krishna Seervi hailing from Bagepalli, Chikkaballapur underwent an ASD device closure. Both the children were discharged, hale and hearty and look forward to live a healthy life.
The Conference collectively embarked on a journey of exploration, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration in the pursuit of advancing global healthcare. ‘Augmenting synergies for Universal Healthcare’ was a pivotal event that promised to shape the future of healthcare through collaborative efforts and innovative solutions. By bringing together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, the Conference inspired a transformative change, forging a path towards a more inclusive, patient-centric, sustainable, affordable and accessible healthcare landscape.
Sri Dinesh Gundu Rao Ji in his address said, “I was always looking forward to be invited to this holy place and witness the glorious work done here. The work is simply astounding and setting up a private medical college in record-breaking time span is laudable. It isn’t easy to achieve such a huge milestone in such a limited duration. Even for the Government, to achieve such an enormous task of establishing a medical college and hospital is difficult. I was awe struck to see the seamless functioning of the Hospital and College here during my walkthrough. We need people who are willing and dedicated to run such institutions and thus able to achieve such substantial outcomes. What is something impossible is been made possible here! SMSIMSR has given a ray of hope to the entire humanity. The people and work being done reinvigorates the hope in humanity. Government facilities have always faced multiple challenges in terms of quality and delivery of healthcare. This Institution has achieved something which any government has failed to. The number of free surgeries and services provided absolutely free of cost is truly inspiring. I would love to extend all the support from the Government and looking forward for meaningful collaborations in making healthcare accessible and affordable to the public.”
In the closing remarks Sri Madhusudan Sai said, “To take the healthcare to remotest of the geographies and making it accessible to everyone despite of hardships is the step taken by us. This can happen only with a magnanimous feeling of ‘vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam – One World One Family’. Parents never charge their children for providing them. Our ancient India never charged for dispensing nutrition, education or healthcare, believing everyone as a part of one single family.
We belong to such great India where the vaidyālayas were patronised by kings dispensing free healthcare to the public. Over time with the onslaught of modernisation things have changed drastically. We as an Institution, believe in the great ideals of our country. The need of the hour is imbibing the feeling of oneness. Charitable institutions, corporate and government must work hand in hand to fill this gap in society. Everyone must have clothes to cover their bodies, nutritious food to live a healthy life and holistic healthcare to cure the disease affected body.
We are a large country and it will take a while to reach out to the last person but we have begun somewhere and set the ball rolling. One step towards this goal that we have set is by establishing a free medical college creating noble healthcare professionals from the rural population of India. They are the one who will commit themselves to this cause and serve the rural poor getting back to their natives. Majority of them hail from families earning less than INR 20k per month. These students have come forward and committed themselves to serve lifelong in this noble cause out of sheer gratitude towards the institution and the country. They are inspired from free medical education and free healthcare which is a myth in this contemporary world. After churning out so much of knowledge over two days, we must put it into action. All the stakeholders should partner to resolve the underlying issues of healthcare in society.”
As part of the Valedictory session, a fireside chat show was held where noted former cricketer Sri Sunil Gavaskar posed many questions about the ethos of ‘compassionate healthcare’, which is the model of all the hospitals which have been established by Sri Madhusudan Sai (Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Heart Care Hospitals, Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Mother and Child Hospitals, Sri Sathya Sai Sarla Memorial Hospital and the Medical College), joint partnerships and collaborations, the concept of universalisation of healthcare, etc.
