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Journalism of Courage
AIIMS is truly an all-India institution. The students are from all over the country, so are the patients and the faculty. It is a large organisation with a mammoth task and an ambitious goal. No wonder, it keeps making headlines, albeit at times for the wrong reasons. But the recent dengue outbreak has presented us with an opportunity to think about its strengths and limitations.
To begin with, is AIIMS supposed to cater as a primary health centre to the colonies around it, or as a district hospital to the NCR, or as a tertiary care referral specialty hospital for the country? The experience of the last three weeks has shown us that AIIMS is under the intense scrutiny of patients, officials, governmental and non-governmental agencies, media, politicians, and even the odd bystander. In spite of the so-called confidentiality of the identity of patients, it was all over the news channels that the family members of VIPs are admitted here, along with the poorest of the poor.
The treating physicians feel sad about the deaths due to dengue 8212; more than 40 in the city, including one of our own students. But at the same time it is gratifying to know that the administration and staff at AIIMS 8212; be it residents, faculty members, nurses, technicians, karamcharis, engineering staff and other paramedical staff 8212; all rose to the challenge of combating dengue with utmost sincerity and zeal. Needless to say, there were hiccups, but everyone worked tirelessly to streamline affairs. Arrangements were far from ideal, but they were far better than what could be hoped for given the circumstances. Even the cynics and sceptics, sitting in the comfort of their ministries and dealing with nothing more than files, had to concede to the fact that AIIMS had done everything that was humanly possible. One must remember that AIIMS has only about 8-9 per cent of the total bed-strength of all the government hospitals in Delhi, and despite this, it dealt with about 40 per cent of the total dengue cases.
Such figures speak for themselves. Constructive criticism, when given and taken in the right spirit, surely improves matters, but an overkill inevitably ends up being counter-productive. And the fact of the matter is that AIIMS is facing the most severe criticism today. One questions the fairness of the treatment meted out by the government to AIIMS. Did the government truly treat AIIMS like a tertiary care specialty hospital? Did the government and civic authorities do anything substantial to prevent the outbreak and to improve the services at other centers? Do we not deserve our due share of credit for our work?
One must realise that legal issues will take their own course, politicians will keep on changing, but the morale of the members of a colossal organisation such as AIIMS, once brought down, will be difficult to uplift again.
The writer is president, Faculty Association AIIMS
