Udupi: Kashmir to Kerala: Dr Karunakar's bicycle journey for a cause
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (MD)
With Inputs from Media Release
Udupi, Dec 22: Prevention is always better than cure, and one doctor who is known internationally for his remarkable achievements in the field of healthcare is on a mission to spread these words of wisdom like never before. Dr Unni Karunakar, who graduated from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal 25 years ago is on a bicycle expedition from Kashmir to Thiruvananthapuram to create awareness on health.
He arrived in Manipal on Friday December 21, as part of his 5,000 km cycling journey. International president of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, Dr Unni Karunakar started his journey last October from Srinagar, Kashmir and will be reaching Kanyakumari, Kerala on February 1, 2014. Dr Unni Karunakara is basically from Kerala.
"I love to cycle. As a medical intern at Kasturba Hospital in 1988, I biked from Delhi to Leh and Srinagar to Delhi. I dreamt, one day, to ride the length of India. Twenty-five years later, I am fulfilling this dream and combining it with my other passion, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). He will pass through 10 states, make 65 stops, speak at 10 medical colleges, have film screenings and ride with cycle groups and co-riders Canadian Olympian Helen Uppertonwill accompany him in Bangalore.
After graduating from Manipal, Dr Karunakar went to the United States, and has been engagaed in international healthcare for 18 years, treating patients, advocating life-saving medicines, and fighting to improve access and the quality of healthcare. At present he is working as a assistant clinical professor in USA, Columbia University.
On Friday he was honoured with the Distinguished Alumnus Award during Kasturba Medical College’s 60th anniversary celebration. On December 22, morning, he will be travelling to Mangalore through Manipal-Udupi highway.
Narrating his experiences so far, he said he was surprised to see that healthcare delivery had still a long way to go in India. En route, he stopped to speak at medical colleges, to meet students and engage in dialogues about health, healthcare, and humanitarian action, thereby picking up a lot of information about the country's healthcare system. “Despite being among the best countries producing generic medicines, we still do not provide healthcare the way it should be done," he said.
"I feel a great sense of nostalgia returning to KMC, where I spent some of the formative years of my life; where I made many lasting friendships; and where I received an education that inspired me to pursue medical humanitarian work," he said.