Chennai: Following one year and a few months’ service as Director, Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children (ICH&HC), and several other rankings under his belt, Dr A T Arasar Seeralar retired recently.
When News Today caught up with him, he gave a freewheeling interview, shedding light on a wide range of issues – from his personal life to neonatal care accomplishments to healthcare focus.
Q: How did your interest in neonatology develop?
A: During undergraduation, one of the professors, Dr S Gopaul, a neonatologist, identified the inherent skills in me and advised that I build my career in newborn field of study. Taking into account my contribution in establishing neonatal wards in several places – Dharmapuri Medical College and RSRM Hospital, to name a few – the State government presented several awards.
I’m unsure what attracted me to newborn care, but those smiling faces and parents’ anxiety to hold the baby – it becomes the most joyous moment for me and the family. I wanted to ensure every baby is delivered safe and sound; that drove me to carve a niche in neonatology. It was the time when not many medicos took up this field, as it was very demanding. Medical advancement was not as high as it is today to identify illnesses. I developed the institution to identify sick babies even before they are delivered.
Q: What are the challenges you faced in establishing neonatal wards and making available crucial medicines in all government hospitals in TN?
A: There was a time when ICH&HC was the only nodal institute for neonatal cases. I realised that all the newborn cases are being sent only to ICH and other hospitals lacked facilities to treat them. As a result of this, death rate was very high. There was a genuine need for the establishment of a ward for them. I began placing my requests about the need. However, it was not an easy job. I had to convince the higher authorities. We had to depend on several philanthropists for meeting the financial requirements.
There were times where we struggled to get linen clothes to dress the newborn. We collected such clothes from hostels and sterilised them to ensure they did not have disease-causing germs.
During the ’90s, the death rate of pre-term babies was high due to respiratory problems. It was because of the absence of drugs essential for them to breathe. The substance would begin to secrete naturally when they mature. In 1995, the drug, surfactant, was discovered. However, it was available only in private hospitals as the price was high. I spearheaded the movement to emphasise on the need of the drug to the government the pre-term children in State-run hospitals were dying. However, it was available only in limited quantities and later it was made available quite easily.
All these blocks were due to the absence of a national board. However, soon after the establishment of the National Health Mission (NHM), that satisfied the basic needs of neonatal care.
Q: There have been several problematic cases of nurses delivering babies at PHCs. Your take on that.
A: Delivery should be performed only by nurses and in several countries, even in India, we had the midwives concept. However, due to lack of proper training, there have been incidents of mishaps. Help must be sought from doctor only when there is a need. There must be specialised nurses, or midwives, only for neonatal care.
Another aspect that the decision making body should keep a check is the workforce. Although there is a gross imbalance in the doctor and patient ratio, the government should step-up measures to have more nurses. Not just in Tamilnadu, but across India.
| ON FIELD |
| Soon after completing medicine and specialisation from Madras Medical College (MMC), Dr A T Arasar Seeralar was engaged in rural service for two years. In the following year, he joined Kilpauk Medical College. At the tertiary care hospital, he developed the pediatric ward and established the first newborn unit. After five years of service, he was posted at various institutes across the State surrounding neonatal care and assumed charge at ICH&HC as Director in January 2018.
“However, initially, I was not willing to pursue medicine. My brother is an engineer and my mother, a nurse. As I was good at mathematics, I wanted to opt for engineering, but my parents wanted me to study medicine and I obliged,” he elaborates. |