Ajai Singh, a psychiatrist in Mumbai and editor of Mens Sana Monographs, discusses the issues confronting modern medicine and health care delivery in his article "Modern Medicine: Towards Prevention, Cure, Well-being and Longevity." He points out that modern medicine has done much in the fields of infectious diseases and emergencies to aid curing. However, today the emphasis by clinicians and in research "must now turn decisively towards prevention and cure."
In tandem with this is today's challenge of longevity with well-being. He emphasizes that "advances in vaccines for hypertension, diabetes, cancers etc, deserve attention; as also, the role of meditation, yoga, spirituality etc in preventing disease at various levels. Studies on longevity, life style changes and healthy centenarians deserve special scrutiny to find what aids longevity with well being" and concludes that "a close look at complementary and alternative medicine is needed . . . "
He stresses prevention suggesting that the primary goal of medicine must be to see that no one needs to go to a hospital or a clinic. Vital to prevention are "health promotion/education activities along with clean water, nutritious food, clean and disaster free habitation, proper sanitation, control of pollution, poverty alleviation, empowerment of the deprived and disadvantaged, life-style modifications. A tall order, which involves multiple agencies, not in control of medicine and its movers."
The author concludes: "A paradigm shift in mainstream medicine from control and palliation to prevention and cure must prevail. The ultimate goal is longevity with well-being."
[open-access full text at] Mens Sana Monographs: a Monograph Series Devoted to the Understanding of Medicine, Mental Health, Man and their Matrix [2010; vol. 8, issue 1, pp. 17-29]
