Social Good: Interview with a Pediatrician in India
This is the first in a two-part Interview. In an effort to understand health care services in India better and to help expand public awareness, World Moms Blog Senior Editor, Purnima, has interviewed a few physicians. The first in this series is an interview with Dr. V. R. Purushotham, a pediatrician in Bangalore, India. He is consulting in St.John’s Medical College, Bangalore.
Dr. V. R. Purushotham
Purnima Ramakrishnan: How many cases do you come across on an average everyday and out of that how many sick children recover and get healthy again?
Dr. Purushotham: At the outset, I am extremely happy and honored to be associated with an initiative like this which caters to the needs of mothers all along the globe. It is my belief that a caring and loving mother is the strongest immunity which a child can get and there is scientific evidence in support of that.
I work in a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore which caters to a large population of children both in and around the city and serves as a referral centre for about 300 sq.kms. Having specialized intensive care units we do see a good number of sick children daily and 90-95% recover well.
PR: Out of the sick children, how many or what percentage are those which could have been prevented by vaccine?
Dr.P: A good chunk of diseases which we come across are infections which affect the lungs( pneumonia), Brain( meningitis) and diarrhea. The introduction of vaccines has reduced the incidence of these diseases but cost being a limiting factor in India, the number of children who have received all the vaccines are a small population of them. (more…)
Purnima Ramakrishnan
Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here . She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award . She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page . She also contributes to Huffington Post . Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son! This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school. She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.
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