Part 17 (2/2)

industries. We desire that all the available technology forces and philanthropists must come together to make it happen.

There are other solid inst.i.tution and industries in India capable of doing more. BARC is not merely devoted to nuclear devices or systems. It has the knowledge and capabilities for many medical technologies. The centre for Advanced Technology (CAT) at Indore has worldcla.s.s capabilities in laser devices and applications. Dr M.S.Valiathan, who led the Health Care Technology Vision 2020 studies, is an eminent scientists and technologist of India. More than three decades ago he came back from USA after his advanced studies to build an inst.i.tution called Sri Chitra Tirunal Medical Centre located at Thiruvananthapuran. Operating from there against heavy odds, he and his team have developed many biomedical devices ranging from blood bags to heart valves, bringing down the costs several fold. These devices are under commercial production in India and some of the devices are also produced abroad under successful technology export contracts. The inst.i.tute has developed several unique capabilities in bio medical devices.

Similarly, the cochairperson of the vision 2020 exercise, the eminent nutritionist Dr Mahtab Bamji, has extensive experience in rural areas. After retirements she spends much of her time in rural areas, contributing towards the vision. There are extremely capable medical personnel, scientists and engineers all over the country.

These are many NGOs and youth in search of challenging human missions. There are many persons like Dr V. Sudarsan of Mysore who combine modern knowledge and scientific methodologies with the inherited wisdom of our people. Also, most experts believe that many older forms of medicines and medicinal plants will have an important role to play in future medicare systems not only in India but in the world. That is the reason many foreign multinational companies invest in research and development of herbal drugs. A few of our experts opine that much of its knowledge has not been fully exploited because of the limited prevalence of Sanskrit and Indian languages. With its ancient knowledge base and excellent biodiversity, India can really become a world leader in herbal and other natural medicare systems.

214.

Maternal and child health Let us end this chapter by addressing a crucial element of the health care system, that is maternal and child health. Women of childbearing age and children under five represent the maternal and child category in any population profile. As per the 1991 census, 56 per cent of the population in India fall under this category. The projected Maternal and Child Health (MCH) population is given in table 10.3. Anaemia , chronic undernutrition and complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the orders of priority for maternal health. In the case of the children, the priorities are diarrhoeal diseases, anemia, perinatal disorders and vitamin A deficiency. Effective antenatal care, prophylactic iron and drinking water facilities, universal immunization coverage are some of the measures which would reduce the problems in MCH.(see table 10.3) In fact, none of the medicare required for maternal and child health demands breakthrough technologies. What is required is a largescale production and distribution system. Even anaemia diagnostics have become simpler, thanks to development in the technologies of advanced sensors. We require a new regarding our children and mothers. The very foundation of our future depends on their health.

The Vision The vision for health for all Indians is realizable well before 2020. We have discussed some details with a few examples.

TABLE 10.3.

Projected Maternal And Population At Different Points Of Time ________________________________________________________________________.

_______________________.

Year Children Adult Female 215.

(04.

years) (1544 years) ________________________________________________________________________.

_______.

Number Per cent of total Number Per cent of total (millions) population (millions) populations ________________________________________________________________________.

_______________________.

1991 111.4 13.2 186.3.

45.8.

2001 114.5 11.3.

231.8.

47.2.

2011 106.4 9.1 275.7.

48.6.

2021.

108.5 8.3 302.3.

47.5.

________________________________________________________________________.

_______________________.

216.

While one needs numbers and statistics, technical evaluation and investments, we believe that a change in thinking would lead to a miraculous transformation. The richer and more powerful sections of our society should realize that the health of their lessprivileged countrymen is their problem as well. They can go to the USA or UK for a cardic examination or surgery but they cannot escape an infectious epidemic in India very long.

Enlightened selfinterest should make businessmen realize that a sick worker cannot give his or her best even with the most modern equipment. High productivity requires a healthy as people's pain and agony, not as files. Similarly, politicians at all levels should learn to look at removal as a part of their duty.

I would like to conclude this chapter with a quote from a convocation address I delivered at the Tamil Nadu Dr M.G.R. Medical University, Madras, on 21 March 1996.

I conclude by recalling the great saying of the Jesuit St Ignatius Loyola to St Paul.

St Paul asked for a message from his guru before taking up the a.s.signment of preaching. St Ignatius Loyola said,'Go to all parts of the earth and ignite their minds and give light.' Dr M.G.R. Medical University gives the message : My young children, Go to all parts of the country, particulary beyond remove the pain of mind and body. Indeed, a health mission is ahead of you. My best wishes.

217.

Chapter 11.

__________________________________.

The Enabling Infrastructure Indeed one's faith in one's plans and methods are truly tested when the horizon before one is the blackest.

Mahatma Gandhi The various chapters so for flesh out the vision of a developed India: poverty being eradicated by about 2010 and the building up of a robust and fastgrowing economy through our core competencies. We have ill.u.s.trated possible trajectories through a few interlinkages between various sectors. Agriculture and agrofood processing will require some of the finest inputs from engineering industries, materials sectors and even sensors and electronics, in addition, of course, to the life sciences and biotechnology. In the modern world every usable product or service is based on a blending of multiple technologies, which are shaped to one or several end uses. Design capability is integral to this and without it we would remain merely at the level of licensed producers. In the long run, that would be a form of enslavement to the developed world.

There are other types of linkages too, that of trade, for example. It is not much use having higher productivity, say of crops, fruit, vegetables, fish and eggs, if these cannot be supplied in time to the consumers. They cannot all be consumed at the place where they are produced. Traders have to sell the products outside and buy other products with the money made. The world today, thanks to the technologies of transportation and telecommunication, has become connected in a much more complex way. The time taken to fly around the globe can be less than a day. Messages, including images of people, can be transmitted almost instantaneously. Compet.i.tiveness in such a complex world can be sustained only at a high level of the knowledge and skill bases at all levels. Many resoures have to be usefully deployed to generate and utilize such knowledge and skill levels. Also, those who have such knowledge and skill levels aspire for better living conditions. We have observed that persons enjoying a better standard of living are able to work more. A simple truth is that a modern developed economy cannot be built on a large number of 218.

people living just above the poverty line, producing agricultural products alone and cut off from the rest of the manufacturing and business centers. This means that every production centre in the country should have speedy economic connectivity with other parts of the country. At every centre there has to be more and more value addition.

Value addition is simply enhancement of the value of material with process attached. It means doing something more to satisfy the ultimate user or consumer.

Innovation can add more features to kindle the imagination of a user or consumer. For example, a farmer can grow a particular variety of mango that is in great demand. There can be value addition if he can provide consistency in taste, shape, size people would be ready to pay more for such an a.s.surance. Value addition can be done through selection, sorting and packaging of mangoes at the production centre. If such a value addition has to be achieved on a large scale, then some forms of semimechanization, testing, etc.

are involved. These are technological inputs.

Nowadays, there are packages designed through computer simulation which consider the types of shock, vibration and thermal conditions the contents and the packages are likely to undergo in transit. We carry out such simulations and design for military equipment, satellites, launch vehicles and missiles. With the increasing presence of computers these techniques are being applied to ordinary civilian life. That is the beauty of technology. As it grows and matures, it spreads to more and more people and provides benefits to all, thus bringing down the costs of application of technologies.

Coming back to our example of value addition, in addition to good sorting and packaging, transportation in containers with controlled atmospheric conditions, or where necessary under chilled conditions, keeps the mangoes fresh. This too is value addition.

<script>