I was stunned to watch this video of Dr. Devi Shetty from Brut media. I have heard of his charitable and pioneering work in cardio thoracic surgery but was amazed with the thoughts he expressed in this video. The need to remove elitism in medicine and get specialists to the rural areas was an important message.
Many years ago, Prof. T.K. Nair at the Madras School of Social Work introduced me to the work of Ivan Illich. Austrian born Illich’s work on Deschooling Society and Medical Imperialism had a profound effect on many of the students even though we did not know of the next steps. One of his arguments was that all aspects of life are becoming medicalised.
At a time like this, during the pandemic crisis, the video of Dr. Devi Shetty and the work of Ivan Illich makes incredible sense for the future.
Video Source: Singhania University