Silent Revolution - Sai Medicare

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Sai Ram

Here is the transcript of the article published in "The Week" October 9, 2005 Issue.

Health care

Silent Revolution

Through its activities across the globe, Sai Medicare is setting models without fanfare

By Dr Hiramalini Seshadri

Love can heal: Sai Baba with a patient

In March last year, a tornado caused such havoc in Cordoba, Argentina, that the

government declared national emergency. The army erected tents for a medical

camp and doctors of Sai medicare, who began the day by singing the National

Anthem and reading from the Holy Bible, provided care, nutrition and medication

to over 1,500 people.In 2003, in a medical camp in flood-ravaged Cossack, Sai

medicare teams from Russia and Europe treated 8,800 patients and rebuilt the

local hospital and ambulance station. At Aceh, Indonesia, Sai volunteers and

teams of doctors from Canada and the US organised by the Sri Sathya Sai

International Medical Committee got going the only two hospitals in the region

which had lost its staff to the tsunami.The medical team that rushed to

Talpetate on the El Salvador-Guatemalan border following an earthquake did some

social work as well. Discovering that lack of water supply was the greatest

problem there, they installed water supply to 100 homes through a $4,000 water

project.In the US, Sai doctors run free health education and screening camps

for those without health insurance. In Caracas, Venezuela, doctors of the local

Sai organisation conduct regular eye camps and in Africa, 8,000 free cataract

surgeries are planned this year.These are just a few instances of how

volunteers of a global movement called Medicare with Love are reaching out to

the needy across the world. In 2004-2005, more than 330 medicare camps were

held in over 30 countries, benefiting over 77,000 patients.The nucleus of this

movement is the secondary care hospital in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, which

was launched 50 years ago as a small four-bedded hospital by Sri Sathya Sai

Baba. Today, it caters to over 500 outpatients daily, besides inpatients. A

similar general hospital has been functioning at Whitefield, near Bangalore,

for 30 years. The icing on the Sai medicare cake,

however, has been the Sri Sathya Sai Institutes of Higher Medical Sciences at

Puttaparthi and Whitefield which have been providing free world-class tertiary

medicare for over a decade.Says Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the inspiration for this

silent medical revolution: "Love can heal any disease; just live in infinite

Love as I do and you too can do all this and more." Baba gave the message of

Love at the International Sai Medical Conference held at Prashanthi Nilayam,

Puttaparthi, last month: "Love all and serve all without fanfare and ego and

thus realise your own innate divinity."In India, Sai medicare has been running

free outpatient clinics in urban areas for the past 25 years. In the last two

years, over 39,500 rural medical camps have been held benefiting over 5.2

million people. The free Sai clinic for passengers at Chennai Central is the

first of its kind in Indian Railways.Sai medicare has tie-ups with projects of

other nations, too. Kenya's Sai

organisation has tied up with the government to distribute insecticide-treated

bed nets to prevent malaria. By November, 50,000 Sai nets would have been

distributed.The Sai net initiative validates all the recommendations of the

millennium task force set up by the African heads of states—that a direct

community approach is needed to tackle malaria, that insecticide-treated nets

need to be given to all, and that the tie-up between governments and

faith-based organisations is desirable to ensure successful project

implementation as commitment is greatest in such organisations.For the Sai

volunteers, there is only one caste, the caste of humanity, only one religion,

that of love, and only one God, the omnipresent one. Source: The Week Magazine,

October 9, 2005http://www.the-week.com/25oct09/lifestyle_article1.htm

Courtesy: http://www.ssso.net/

 

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Attached please find a copy of the article "Silent Revolution" written by Hiramalani Seshadri...

http://www.ssso.net