Bengaluru: Though Karnataka has launched many services in healthcare sector the divide between urban and rural areas regarding availability of health service continues to be huge.
Many communities in rural areas are still unable to gain access to basic healthcare provisions. The requirement of quality and affordable healthcare for underprivileged and poor is comparatively more in rural areas.
In order to bridge this gap Dr Suryanarayana Sharma, Senior Consultant Neurologist at BGS and the founder of Pattanagere Ranganath Shasthry Krishnavenamma Memorial trust, along his team has been working tirelessly.
Dr Sharma shared his belief of how social service brings us closer to the community and is a way to reciprocate to the society. There is a need for proper access to medicines and health checkups in rural areas and providing such facility has been the major challenge. With the support of BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals, Dr Sharma has hosted many health check camps with basic blood tests and free medicines.
The team has been working in Hedathale, a small village located 13 km away from Nanjangud Taluk for almost two years. They are also conducting health awareness programmes, advocating healthy behaviour and guiding adults and children with basic hygiene and sanitation.
As for managing his professional and social life, Dr Sharma said, “It requires a lot of time and dedication. The support from my family has been remarkable and it becomes easy to manage because we get to involve both family members and professional colleagues in the social activity.”
With a motivation to make a small contribution for the public in his own capacity, Dr Sharma is also addressing different magnitude of the problems and challenges that are present in the society.
He is also involved in promoting rural education by supporting underprivileged children in rural schools by providing educational material such as books, sports kit and helping improve the school infrastructure.
As for social work, he said his father is his inspiration, as he used to do a lot of philanthropic work. “Giving scholarships to poor students from rural areas gives us a sense of happiness and accomplishment. Each of us should make an effort in our capabilities to make a difference and build a healthier society,” Dr Sharma said.
