20 Aug 2008

BANGALORE: Health has always been Muhammad Yunus' top priority - 9 out of 16 decisions taken by the Grameen Bank stressed on improving health.

"Healthcare system in Bangladesh, especially the government ones, are inefficient . Only a few go to our neighbours - India and China - and many can hardly afford it. So we must create an affordable healthcare system for the poor in Bangladesh," Yunus explained. He visited the Narayana Health City on Monday.

Dr. Yunus has been referring patients to Dr. Devi Shetty and keeping track of the Health City activities from its conceptual stage to see how much of its philosophy has been applied practically.

"And since we also plan to have a similar healthcare system , I visited the Health City," Dr. Yunus said.

Flood and cyclone are frequent in Bangladesh, and this 'poor man's banker' aims to prevent diseases that can harm a large portion of the population. He has already started work on the Health City, which is likely to be based in Dhaka, and his next move is to reach out to remote parts of the country.

In Bangladesh, there are more doctors than nurses, so setting up nursing institutes is important. Tele-medicine is another area that he wants to exploit to reach remote areas.He said the Karnataka government is in charge of the Yeshaswini scheme, whereas in Bangladesh, the model works in a different way. "We want to contribute whatever we could instead of depending on the government."