New blog discoveries

Neha at desipundit points to this blog which airs the unheard voices of the HIV infected in India. Lives in focus is an excellent concept – Using video, audio and photographs, this website presents the voices of those who are rarely given space or time in traditional news media.

Their latest post has this startling fact : “Every minute of every day, a child dies because of AIDS.”

Also commendable is their effort to document the struggles of families in India struggling to buy anti-retrovial drugs, in order to keep a family member healthy, and maybe even alive. I had linked to a piece on the Science Blog which stated, the survival rate of HIV-infected patients in India has risen in response to a 20-fold drop in the price of antiretroviral therapy (ART). In sheer contrast, ‘lives in focus’ says this about their attempt– The baseline will also establish how they think they will manage as drug prices surge and any stockpiled drugs are depleted. I wonder if the Science Blog report was just too optimistic, or in case the prices have dropped, are the benefits not percolating down to the needy? I have written to Sandeep at ‘lives in focus’ – will post his reply here when he resopnds.

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The second remarkable blog is The Patient’s Doctor by Dr. Aniruddh Malpani. Dr. Malpani says this about himself on the blog – I am an IVF specialist who believes in information therapy. I first heard of Dr.Malpani through this post on Rajesh Jain’s blog – the making of Abhishek – a moving personal story of the Jains’ struggle to have a baby. I discovered his blog very recently but have been hooked ever since; I have been leafing through the archives starting from January this year.

As I wrote to him, I see him as a sane voice from “the other side”, and I say this as a person with a traumatic history of interaction with doctors (including a spine surgery that has left more than just physical scars).

And as a person who has recently heard a close friend describe her experience at a ‘fertility specialist’ in Bangalore as “They treat patients like cattle there. I feel so miserable but I don’t have a choice – I want a baby desperately“.

His first post says it best – I am an infertility specialist, but I prefer to think of myself as being a patient advocate. I believe patients should be at the center of the medical universe ( the “healthcare industry” ) and will write about what can be done – by patients and doctors – to achieve this.

6 comments

  1. Charu,

    hi ! 2 years ago during my first pregnancy, I met a well known gynaecologist. We grew closer as i had my daughter the last year.

    She has an extensive practice and does a lot of work with people who have problems conceiving, but to quote her own words ” I dont advise IVF” which she believes is a minefield of ethical and questionable medical practices.

    She had a very interesting point of view on patients who are ready to do ” anything” to conceive According to her what they want is “a pregnancy” and not a child. They are ready to go through great depth of physical and emotional traumas, put their health and marriages at risk to be seen as ” normal” in society.

    I have 2 kids and cannot honestly say that i have experienced the ” cattle treatment” but my question is just this Is there really no choice? or is it that we ready to go all out for that medical pie in the sky but not ready to do something as worthwhile as adoption ?.

    regards
    rashmi

  2. Rashmi, I can answer this question as someone who has expereinced the cattle treatment, not wrt conceiving but other medical issues. the cattle treatment mentioned here is clearly with reference to people who have faced pregnancy related problems and not people who have otherwise had normal and healthy pregancies.
    As for adoption, I think with most people, it is a last resort (unfortunate but true). Why would any woman who believes herself to be healthy otherwise think of adopting at 25?
    Do read the post I have linked to here – the making of Abhishek.

  5. “Every minute of every day, a child dies because of AIDS.”
    – This bit of info is alarming. I didn’t know we were this bad….1440 children dying each day with AIDS is just too much. Are you sure about the stats…coz it sounds like an exaggeration to me.

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