The curse of cure in India is stress on medicine rather than science: CNR Rao

BENGALURU: One of the top scientists of India, Bharat Ratna Prof CNR Rao, has blamed lack of scientific pursuit among doctors who lay more stress on medicine for lack of cures for several diseases and health condition in the country.In his address at the inaugural of the three-day conference of Association of Physicians of India (APICON 2018) here on Thursday, Prof Rao, while emphasising on research-oriented doctors, said, “You need to know more science as doctors. In University of California, I have seen scientists and doctors work together. This collaboration has led to great discoveries.

The interdisciplinary collaboration of medicine, engineering and science will lead to greater research. In the US, you need a basic degree in science (like Bsc) before a medical degree. We should also have more science education.”Prof Rao, who is chairman of Vision Group on Nanotechnology, spoke of the use of nanotechnology for detection of cancer and use of tissue engineering for growing new skin for burns victims.

“Right here, in Bengaluru, in my lab, there is a lot of research happening in nanotechnology. In the US, they found a very good cure for breast cancer using nanotechnology. Nanonotes is an important technology for detection of cancer. One Nanonote can be used here in Bengaluru,” he said.“Tissue regeneration engineering can be used to grow new skin for burns patients. At least two labs are using nanotechnology to grow skin. There are so many diseases for which there is no cure. For example, early stage Alzheimer’s can be detected using molecular markers,” he further said.

Education and health budget in India is the lowest in the world hovering between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent, lamented Prof Rao, who is also Linus Pauling Research Professor and honorary president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, which he founded in 1989. “Education and health are the two most important elements of a good society. But in India, we have the least budget and investment for these two sectors. Finland has the highest budgetary allocation for education; Singapore is third;  US is 25th and India is at 100. Even in the medical profession, education is important,” said Prof Rao.

APICON is being held at the University of Agricultural Sciences. The theme of the conference is ‘Dawn of a new era in Medicine’.Innovation, newer techniques, medical devices and patient care will be discussed by 8,000 physicians, including 20 international experts from the US, UK, Australia, and Bangladesh.  
Also, a live endoscopic workshop by Dr Nageshwar Reddy, gastroenterologist,vaccine development for Malaria by Dr Bibhuthi Saha, and lesser known respiratory complications caused by obesity
will be discussed  by Dr Geoff Chadwick among many other diseases.