Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)
Mangaluru, Jan 23: With an aim to make healthcare and health administration more eco-friendly, the department of hospital administration, Father Muller Medical College here organized a day-long conclave on the topic 'Go Green in Healthcare', where experts and students deliberated on topics such as green initiatives in medical campus, green hospitals and waste management in healthcare.
The conclave was formally inaugurated by health minister U T Khader and other dignitaries.
In his address, Khader lauded FMMC for organizing such a unique event and said, "At the outset I congratulate the management on organizing this conclave. The concept of 'go green' is not only concerned with pollution control but also with health. So it is the responsibility of the government and institutions to adopt every possible technology to facilitate this. Some of the private institutions have done really good work. By next year we will try to implement the go green concept at least at one major district government hospital. It should be the dream of every institution to go green.
"In India we break rules but not customs. We cannot copy the western model of development. India needs to create its own model of development. These type of initiatives are important to create awareness among the younger generation," he added.
Fr Patrick Rodrigues, director of Father Muller Hospital said, "There was a meeting in Paris about 2 months ago and about representatives of 120 countries had participated. About 30 speakers mentioned about the document 'Laudato si', an encyclical by the Pope on environment. This concept about how we should love our mother earth and protect it was agreed in the UN too. Hospital is a place where everything takes place on a big scale. There is immense consumption of electricity, water, accumulation of waste and so on. We should think about and implement result-oriented equipment. We should install equipment which consume less electricity and emits less radiations and thereby try to reduce the burden on the environment."
Dr Prashanth Maarla, medical director and CEO of AJ hospital in his keynote address said, "The first step in go green is the design. Locally available materials should be used in construction so that it can sustain the weather conditions of that particular region. More importance should be given to natural light and wind, so that this will reduce the consumption of electricity. Solar panels should be installed on the roof so that solar power can be converted into energy. Glass building might look good but it emits enormous amount of heat into the building, so it is good to avoid glass outside the building. Water should be recycled for use in gardens and flush. Paperless hospital using software can save cutting down of so many trees.
"The highest expenditure in any hospital is salary, purchases and then electricity. So we need to see how we can reduce the expenditure on electricity. We should find alternate energy solution like solar or wind energy. Periodic maintenance of equipment is also necessary. We need to have information on organ donation as well. By organ donation we can save lives of those who are in need of it," he added.
Fr Richard Coelho, administrator of the Father Muller hospital, Fr Rudolf Ravi Dsa, administrator of Father Muller Medical College and Sweeta D'Cunha, coordinator were also present.