THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Kerala has received a pat from an expert for its public health status and low maternal mortality rate. “Kerala is remarkable; even the poorest person has access to the internet and TV. This can be channelled to create awareness among people about the high-risk pregnancy. Introducing health-related content in a sitcom is more effective than a pamphlet in reaching out to people,” according to Dr. John Smolenic, perinatal specialist and director of foeto-maternal unit, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney .
“Media can have more influence on the mothers than the best foetal medicine in the world,” he said while attending a three-day Continued Medical Education (CME) programme organised by the department of high-risk obstetrics and foetal medicine and department of obstetrics and gynaecology, KIMS, here. He conducted a training session for bridging the gap between Indian and western medical technologies.
About 120 professionally qualified delegates from all over India attended the programme when panel discussions and lecture by specialists were conducted.
Dr. R. Vidyalakshmy, a perinatal medicine specialist, had trained under Dr. John Smolenic in Sydney with a fellowship after which the department was set up at KIMS in 2009. “At that time, the specialty was unheard of in Kerala. We had to educate the doctors. Slowly things changed by 2010-11,” said Dr. Vidyalak-shmy.
“Still not many people know that folic acid (that prevents birth defects of baby's brain and spinal cord) should be taken before pregnancy,” she said. “More focus should be given to preventive care rather than bringing a patient to a hospital when she has already developed fits. That makes a huge difference. Every foetus has a right to live,” she added.
