Prof. (Dr.) N. Sridhar Shetty

Posted on: July 1, 2021

Kind Attn: Health Minister of India! This is a National Role Model!!

Prof. (Dr.) N. Sridhar Shetty, Founder Dean ABSMIDS

The Doctor who went into the heart of Rural India and had administered a hearty procedure that had become a Role Model and a holistic approach!

Some mission are unprecedented. Prof. (Dr.) N. Sridhar Shetty had presented an unprecedented development model for rural India. It was holistic and had resulted in total transformation of those Rural Villages into a healthy community with continuous prosperity models. Dr. N. Vinaya Hegde, Honorable Chancellor of Nitte University had presented about this model in his unique way of straight forward appraisal in one of the endowment lecture day that had commemorated with Birth Day celebration of his beloved Prof. (Dr.) N. Sridhar Shetty. What he had told went perfect and was understood by all in its true spirit.

The model of Prof. (Dr.) N. Sridhar Shetty remain unchallenged for ever that no one who have had stepped into his shoes went anywhere near to his performance. We should understand that the renowned and the famous had stepped into the helm of affairs subsequent to the retirement of Prof. (Dr.) N. Sridhar Shetty being the Dean of ABSMIDS.

Follow Your Heart

One has to follow their heart to discover themselves and to uncover the treasury of miracles that are wrapped with their person. This happens only when a person transcend the boundaries of limited thinking and physical frameworks. Eventually the universal wisdom get revealed into master works that comes out step by step as one move upward and forward in their unique mission. Story of this unwrapping mystery is happened with Dr. N. Vinaya Hegde as well. He was a son about him his father had worried a lot. What a miracle that he had manifested when he had undergone into the mystery of life in such an unprecedented manner. The greatness of both these men are in their humility to relate themselves with people of all strata in society and life. This is nothing but having your foot firmly on ground irrespective of the height you are able to stretch. Touching the sky keeping the feet down on the earth. What a wonderful people they are. Salute to them. Below you read about the rural vision.

Vision and concept

“Institutionalized Approach- total Health Care for Rural and semi urban population at the doorstep – Free of Cost”.

This concept was envisaged and prepared for a health system to be developed for a continuous and progression of the rural and semi urban population. AWARENESS, ACCESSIBILITY, AVAILIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY This vision and concept have been practised and tested at the Dental Medicine teaching institution A.B. Shetty Memorial Institution of Dental Sciences Mangalore.

DOCTORS ARE NOT GOING TO RURAL AREAS’!?

Why blame doctors?

In spite of increased, health care Manpower as well as specialist manpower, Health care facilities are not available to the rural population. why? Today health science has scaled to greater heights. Medical science has witnessed remarkable progress in health-care. They are facilitated and providing health care for state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity.

Mortality is controlled and reduced, life span is increased to 70 years of age but morbidity has increased the cost for health care requirement especially to take care of 20 to 30% of senior citizens, health care and therapeutics. 80% rural population of India don’t have access to medical facilities. Today health services in India are usually organised for health care, at three levels, a primary health care level,(primary health centres’ and sub centres’) secondary health care level(district hospitals) and tertiary healthcare level(apex hospitals and teaching hospitals. They are with different qualification grade of manpower, infrastructures and facilities, resulted to the status of minimum to primary health care level and Excellency to tertiary health care level.

Health system in India imitate west and could treat patients of various higher challenges, at tertiary hospitals and medical teaching institutions, where doctors and specialists are facilitated with the availability of advanced evidence based therapeutic facilities, advanced diagnostic facilities.

Can a doctor posted at the primary health care level save the life of patient with limited availability of facilities? and also because of limited qualifications? Will he be like a soldier without a gun?

Do the health camps conducted in the rural areas have any significant benefits since the rural populations get the awareness of sickness but cannot avail or access nor afford the treatment. Why should rural people have only primary health care? Why these luxuries for city people only? Can these rural populations can afford to travel far distant speciality hospitals, or can afford therapeutics? Will they have easy accessibility, availability and affordability for treatments?

Medical teaching institutions are among those concentrated with man power of excellence-such as doctors, specialists, nurses, technicians and other paramedical staff along with undergraduate and postgraduate students, facilitated for advanced diagnostics and therapeutics, research and advances in the medical field. Clinical teaching and learning, as well as treatments of patients, are done in smaller groups for better learning. Health sciences teaching institutions, instead of concentrating in one campus, can be programmed to have a Nucleus hospital connected with network hospitals, a cluster of 5 to 6 teaching hospitals (100 beds each) with required facilities for clinical teachings and beds distributed under the various clinical specialities.

This vision and concept of institutionalised approach have been practised and tested at A.B. Shetty Memorial Institution of Dental Sciences Mangalore since 1991, founded by Nitte Education trust Mangalore.

Rural satellite centers: Under this project, rural areas with designated villages covering rural population 1,500, 000 in the radius of 10 to 200 km were selected progressively from the 1991 year after year to establish 15 rural satellite centers. A Holistic approach of public health, as well as dento-oral awareness, is created by the house to house visit for Health awareness and Screening, Street plays on public health and awareness, Treatment camps along with screening and awareness programme. Single-day denture camps to facilitate geriatric patients and school programmes for paediatric patients.

Patients are treated for Orofacial diseases at the institution established rural satellite centres. Further, patients who required advanced treatments, are brought to the nucleus hospital (Dental medicine teaching institution), and patients are treated free of cost. This endeavour has involved a total cost of Rs.4.305 billion as of July 2012. Over 1.5 million rural poor patients have been treated, free of cost (July 2006), and more than 2 million by 2012 at the cost of Rs.2.5 Billion. From 1987-2012 advanced treatments (costing Rs.1, 805,562,638) were provided free of cost at the nucleus hospital, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, to treat the diseases of the Stomatognathic system, which is a prime organ of the human body that formulates the vital chain by its function which in turn is the basis of human existence.

The endeavor is still on with greater enthusiasm. Its success has emboldened me to present this paper as a project report in 2006 and published with required modifications for approval and adoption by all those concerned. “Silent revolution for rural empowerment – Vision and Concept For equality in health care” – Authored by Prof. (Dr) N Sridhar Shetty and published by Nitte University in 2013.