'Keep check on misuse of over-the-counter drugs'

Jamkar talks about need to control sale of medicines that can be bought without prescription

Jamkar talks about need to control sale of medicines that can be bought without prescription

To commemorate World Health Day 2011 on April 7, MiD DAY decided to interview the vice-chancellor of the state's biggest health university to understand the concerns that plague our medical system and its causes.


Getting clinical: Dr Arun Jamkar interacts with MiD DAY reporters.
Pic/Jignesh Mistry

In this installment, we bring to you excerpts of our conversation with Dr Arun Jamkar, vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik and former dean of Sassoon General Hospital, who tells us of the desperate need to control over-the-counter medicines and produce skilled doctors.

The theme for this year's World Health Day is preventing anti-microbial resistance or drug resistance. What is your opinion on this subject?
The abuse of anti-biotics and its side effects has reached alarming proportions. If not controlled, this can lead to disastrous results. What happens is that for basic ailments, people either take self-medication or go to chemists who give them high-end antibiotics. Such diseases don't require latest antibiotic but owing to lack of knowledge these drugs are misused. What happens is that the viruses develop resistance and these medicines don't work against them, which means, should anyone get that disease later, it would be difficult to cure.

What is the solution to this problem of drug resistance?
The government needs to take serious steps. Our drug dispensing policies should be made stronger and strict check kept on sale of antibiotics at chemists shop. Another problem is that non-allopathic doctors like homeopaths should stop prescribing anti-biotics as they don't have the training in high-end antibiotics. Thirdly, it is important to put an end to self-diagnosis and treatment, if people don't want to face disaster later.

Major changes have been proposed in the MBBS curriculum. As Vice-Chancellor of the state's biggest health university that controls MBBS courses, do you agree the course is outdated?
Yes, I do feel there is a need for some major overhaul. I was part of the national-level meeting and I like the proposal as it emphasises on skill-training. At present focus is too much on academics and that's why many of our MBBS students don't even know how tou00a0 put an IV tube properly. Secondly, the doctors need to be socially oriented and that's why we need to introduce communication skills development classes that will help understand patients and treat them as humans and not objects. This way doctors can connect to patients.

There was talk of starting short-term MBBS coursee for doctors wanting to practise in rural areas; do you agree?
No, I think it was a ridiculous idea. Are rural people sub-citizens that they can make do with sub-standard doctors? Instead of such move, we have suggested that government introduce three-year training on allopathic medicines for existing homeopaths and ayurvedic practitioners. There are already doctors practising in rural areas, so why not enhance their skills rather than produce sub-standard doctors?

Why is India losing so many skilled doctors to the West?
Though the trend is reversing, it is true that many medical graduates go abroad to study. That's because reputed medical colleges offering super specialised courses like MD in infectious diseases or trauma medicine or sub-specialisation like retinal surgery, colorectal surgery are either few or non-existent. To study these courses, doctors go abroad and settle there. But now we are in the process of starting these super-specialties across medical colleges and there would be no need to go abroad.