People are meant to
be loved and things are meant to be used. Unfortunately, in the present
commercial world, it is the other way round, with people being used and things
being loved. Thanks to the “market
economy”, there is more emphasis on amassing wealth by hook or crook, ignoring the ethics, dodging
the rules and regulations, and bypassing the government policies. Today is an
era of enterprise society, where profit at any cost has become the ultimate goal. This is leading to a
dangerous precedent, taking a heavy toll on human values, virtues and principles.
Man is a social animal. Biological needs like eating and
sleeping constitute the innate nature of human beings. In a civilized and
modern society, a person’s stature is set by his conduct, ethical standards and
moral values. Money and materialism take second place. Among all living
organisms, only humans have the discriminatory power, who can judge what is
good and what is bad. Society acts as a mould to shape a person’s behavior. It
is generally said that a corrupt society breeds corrupt individuals, with
honest and dedicated people being an endangered species facing extinction. Such
societies need to be overhauled, with radical changes being the need of the
hour so that the right individuals have a right place to thrive.
According to the words of Mahatma Gandhi, there
is no wrong in earning money, but one must stick to moral and ethical code. Both
of these are not contradictory, but, in fact, are complimentary. Even the
medical profession is not free from the growing commercialism, pushing the
selfless service to the back seat. Doctors were considered next to God, giving the
utmost importance to medical profession. But considering the current
conditions, the perception seems to be changing. Widespread superstitions,
appalling low level of medical awareness, rising medical expenditure, poor functioning of government
hospitals and inaccessibility to medical care are driving people especially in
rural areas to consult quacks, which are bent on bringing disrepute to the
medical profession. Urban areas are no exception. A large number of corporate hospitals,
diagnostic centers and pharmaceutical companies are duping susceptible people
by ordering unnecessary diagnostic and pathological tests and mounting medical
bills, turning the holy profession into an unholy commercial venture.
Doctors getting kickbacks for prescriptions
from pharmaceutical companies are a common practice. Institutional changes,
transparent policies and greater accountability are the need of the hour to
address the current crisis.
Root causes for
unethical practice is a social pressure.
Parents have a deep sense of urge to get their children educated and, in turn, build a better life
than their peers. There is this perception in the society that education is meant just for earning
a decent livelihood, and not to make responsible and law abiding citizens. As a result, education has turned into a
profitable venture and parents are ready to invest huge amounts and force their wards to study “elite subjects”, like medicine,
engineering or charted accountancy
in order to get handsome returns. In this process, the opinions of children are
often ignored.
With their parents having invested huge amounts
on their education, the young graduates are eager to get back the returns, and
prepare to disregard and circumvent any rule or regulation that comes in their
way. This urge for commercialization breaks the backbone of patients belonging
to lower and middle classes. There seems to be more emphasis on mere collection
of facts or data in education, ignoring the basic concept that knowledge is
obtained only when meaningful data and information is properly organized. It is
application of this knowledge that leads to wisdom and clarity of perception.
In spite of an increased expenditure on education, quality seems to be appalling. And expecting ethical practice filled
with love, passion and compassion from the products of such a system is nothing
short of imprudence.
For the past several decades, there have been
various governments formulating several policies towards welfare of the state,
with their main aim being to address pertinent issues such as poverty,
illiteracy, inequality and so on. However, even after several decades of
independence, there is a hold-up on various fronts owing to negligence and lack
of commitment of bureaucrats and politicians. Many factors play a role while
recruiting for government posts, including abuse of money as well as power.
Moreover, poor infrastructural facilities and lack of availability of medicines
at government setups denies committed individuals an opportunity to serve the
public. One cannot expect ethical practice with dedication to profession and
service to public from the individuals selected for jobs like such.
There are three key
societal members who can make a difference if a country is to be corruption
free and become a nation of beautiful minds, the father, the mother and the
teacher. All of them play a key role in making ethical practice
feasible in the present commercial world.
Not all medical practitioners engage in
immoral and unethical practices. There are many selfless doctors who serve with
utmost care and responsibility, providing untiring services to the needy,
downtrodden and marginalized sections of the society. Ethical practice is
feasible in the present commercial world only when high levels of ethical
standards and moral values are incorporated in the society, the system is made
more transparent and fool proof with greater accountability, provisions are
made to implement already existing ethical codes and guidelines, making general
population more aware, and inculcating a sense of responsibility and spirit of
selfless service, care and compassion among medical graduates. Only then can
the medical practitioners hope and dream of getting the appropriate reverence
they deserve.
No comments:
Post a Comment