At a time when Kerala' robust healthcare system wins laurels across the country, especially in the wake of the novel coronavirus scare, a Facebook post lauding the efficiency of the public health system of the state garners eyeballs.
Balaji Viswanathan, CEO of Invento Robotics and a former Microsoft executive, has taken to social media to give an account of his experience while holidaying in Kerala a couple of weeks ago.
“We were staying at Alappuzha beach and my son had a small accident early in the morning. I was super scared, and carried him to a government hospital [it was my first visit to a government hospital in my living memory],” he says.
Viswanathan, whose startup has developed 'Mitra', India's first humanoid robot, couldn't hide his surprise as he goes on to say: “In 30 seconds, the reception processed the entry [without the need for any ID]. In another 30 seconds, a doctor in ER looked at it and saw it was not life threatening. In another 2 minutes, the blood was contained and first aid was done. In another 5 minutes a duty doctor made the first assessment and asked for a X-Ray.”
He says since it was early hours, he had to wake up the lab technician, but the X-ray was ready in another two minutes.
“We came home to just get some food, then went back to the hospital for the Ortho. We waited for about 5 min [a long queue was there] and then the Ortho did her assessment. In the next 5 minutes another duty doctor came in and had the bandage replaced and a prescription given. Amazingly our holiday continued without any delay,” he says.
Viswanathan compares these hospital staff, most of them are women, to MARCOS, the special unit of the Indian Navy which is responsible for conducting special operations.
He says without connections, influence, money or even the knowledge of the local language, his son got the best medical care, that too, without spending a single rupee. He further testifies that he has never seen a healthcare system, anywhere in the world, as efficient as this.
“India has not fallen victim to any major global epidemic in over a century and you have to thank such women and men for that. Smallpox, Plague, Polio, HIV have all been fought back with ruthless efficiency and bravery. Corona bro, I feel sorry for you man,” Vishwanathan concludes.
Kerala's achievements in the health sector have been often cited as role models for the country. Last week, the effective manner in which Kerala tackled COVID-19 had earned praise in a talk show featured on BBC News.
