CORPORATE COMPASSION
28.
CORPORATE COMPASSION
I met him on the verandah of the
hospital. He had become thinner, he had lost some hair and his eyes that used
to sparkle had lost their lustre. But in spite of all the changes my mind’s eye
could recognize who that person was.
Panigrahi. A senior official of the
State Bank of India. It was to him that I reported for duty when I joined the
banking service as a Probationary Officer. At Balasore in Orissa. Panigrahi was
an efficient officer. An energetic young man who always had a smile.
His cherished desire was to construct a
house and settle down in Puri after his retirement. He had purchased a
beautiful plot on the beach. He had already drawn up the plan for the house. It
was on the day when the foundation stone was to be laid that he felt some
uneasiness. He contacted his doctor in Bhubaneswar who suggested some tests
including biopsy. It was after the biopsy that his family came to know of the
tragic fact that Panigrahi was suffering from cancer.
It is with such sad stories that
hundreds of people come to the Tata Memorial Centre, an institution that can
well claim to be the best medical centre in India for the treatment of cancer. It
is also this centre in Mumbai which has got the international award for the
best cancer control centre in the world.
The Tata family owned quite a number of
research centres, educational institutions and hospitals of international
standard in India. After becoming a member of the management bodies councils of
the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Tata Memorial Centre I was able
to observe their functioning at close quarters. Dr Katyayan Dinshaw who is at
the helm of the Tata Memorial Centre says cancer is a disease that can be
treated effectively if detected early. But most people do not go in for early
diagnosis. They come to hospital only when the disease is in an advanced stage
and, therefore, beyond cure.
The Tata Memorial Centre also suggests a remedy for this. They are continuing their efforts to make available diagnostic facilities at different levels. A beginning was made with the establishment of a rural cancer cure centre at Chiploon in Maharashtra. Later they made extensive arrangements to detect, prevent and control cancer in consultation with the Regional Cancer Centres and other cancer institutions in India. One of the major constraints in the treatment of cancer is the non-availability of specialists at the regional levels. But Tata Memorial has been able to overcome this to a great extent by introducing the tele-medicine method on a large scale. The Tata Memorial has started a system of suggesting methods of treatment after studying in detail the facts about patients made available from the cocerned institutions in India. This helps thousands of cancer patients to avail of expert opinion
of brilliant doctors
without increasing the expenditure. Also the hardship involved in the journey
to Mumbai.
Dr Valiathan, who is involved in the
governing body of Tata Memorial, and his colleagues have been making continuous
efforts to make this a state of the art medical institution of world standard. Efforts
are on to frame necessary legislation to make this an autonomous national
institute on the lines of the Sree Chithra Centre at Thiruvananthapuram.
It is worthwhile to know details of the
services available to cancer patients at the Tata Memorial. About 65 per cent
of the nearly 1,00,000 cancer patients coming to Tata Memorial Hospital get
either free or concessional treatment. This institute which started as an 85-bed
hospital now has medical facilities to treat more than 850 inpatients. Every
year, around 15,000 major operations as well as 700 laser operations are done here.
This has state of the art facilities for radiation treatment and chemotherapy. Bone
marrow transplant operations are carried out here from 1983 onwards. Tata
Memorial was the first centre in India to have this facility.
It is not necessary to go all the way to
Mumbai for every treatment, wasting one’s money. Tata Memorial makes available
its services in coordination with 17 Regional Cancer Centres located in different
parts of the country. Moreover, it also provides cancer treatment facilities to
thirty medical colleges spread far and wide. Every year, continuing medical
education programmes are conducted to train about 400 doctors in advanced
methods of treatment of cancer. In short, the medical expertise of Tata
Memorial is disseminated to other centres also.
The centre is also equipped to make use
of the latest global trends in the treatment of cancer for the benefit of the
patients in this country. Apart from enabling foreign doctors to come here and
Indian doctors to go abroad for exchange of expertise, the centre also
undertakes joint research programmes with countries like Germany, France and
America. Many joint ventures, like that with the MD Anderson Cancer Institute
of America, had helped to make spectacular progress in the fight against cancer.
Occasionally, I visit the Tata Memorial.
I have had opportunities to meet patients especially from my state. It has been
a wonderful experience to have been a witness to the way Tata Memorial
succeeded in extending a helping hand to many depressed souls and lead them to
a newly orchestrated life.
Joe Ykhuma from Mizoram says: My house
is situated in the village Chimtuipui which has neither roads nor electricity. When
my father fell ill, I did not know what he was suffering from. Then someone
said it was cancer. I had read somewhere about Tata Memorial. I got in touch
with the authorities. I came here and got him treated. I had to pay only
minimal fees. Now my father’s disease is under control. Once in a while I have
to take him to the Barua Cancer Hospital in Assam for a follow up check up.
Similar are the words of solace of
hundreds of unfortunate people who visit the Tata Memorial daily. Nowadays it
is the Atomic Energy Department that provides money and other facilities to the
Tata Memorial. The Tata family ensures its active participation in the
institute. I wish the other big industrial houses also set apart a percentage
of their earnings to provide succour to others.
It is a matter of gratification that
there are wealthy people here and there who utilize their wealth for the well
being of the world. Many of the good enterprises in the services sector at the
international level are run by funds provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. Bill
Gates, one of the richest men in the world, has earmarked a considerable
portion of his wealth for the benefit of the people. Warren Buffet, a giant
among billionaires, has entrusted a major portion of his income to Bill Gates for
the purpose of charity. Laxmi Mittal, a billionaire of Indian origin, has
recently indicated that he would be starting charity work. We can take it to be
a good sign that even in the area of providing service to the needs a corporate
culture is coming to bloom. Three cheers
to corporate compassion.
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