Justice Manjula Chellur, judge of the Karnataka High Court, inaugurating the 23rd Karnataka State Ophthalmologists' Conference in Bellary on Saturday. V.N. Kulkarni (second from left), chairman of the conference committee;
SN Jayaram, Deputy Commissioner; and Vijay Gramophadhyaya, president of the Karnataka Ophthalmologists' Society, are seen
Justice Manjula Chellur, judge of the Karnataka High Court, has underlined the need for medical professionals to have a basic knowledge of the laws. She was speaking after inaugurating the 23rd Karnataka State Ophthalmologists' Conference, organised by the Bellary District Ophthalmologists Association in association with the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) at Basava Bhavan here on Saturday.
Ms. Chellur was of the view that it was high time that the medical
professionals had a basic knowledge of the law, especially in the wake
of Karnataka Consumer Protection Act taking cognisance of any negligence
on their part. She also hoped that the State-level bodies would come out with a charter
of dos and don'ts, duties, and rights, so that they could discharge
their duties properly.
She called upon medical professionals to ensure that the reports on
medico-legal cases were clear, which would help the judiciary in proper
dispensation of justice. She said that blaming the doctors was not right, as many of the
government hospitals in the rural areas lacked basic infrastructure. She urged the doctors serving in rural areas to realise the circumstances and gear up to face the challenges.
The Deputy Commissioner, S.N. Jayaram, who was also one of the guests of
honour, underlined the need for doctors to serve their patients with
compassion. He said that of the six crore visually challenged people in the world, 70 lakhs were in India. In order to prevent blindness, the Government had formed District
Blindness Control Societies and the level of blindness was decreasing.
He said that efforts were on to bring the level down from 1.1 per cent
to 0.3 per cent.
The president of the Karnataka State Ophthalmologists' Society (KSOS),
Vijay Gramopahyaya, emphasised the need to organise the Continued
Medical Education (CME) programme to help doctors keep abreast of the
developments in medical sciences. Shamsundar Prasad from Hyderabad was
conferred with the Dr. Subramanyam Oration award on the occasion.
The principal and director in-charge of VIMS, R.D. Desai, released a compact disk brought out by KSOS.
V.N. Kulkarni, chairman of the conference committee, welcomed the gathering.
