Bangalore: By the end of 2010, over 100 million people in India will be over 60 years of age. They would be vulnerable to a host of ailments including brain disorders.
There is an urgent need for research to understand causes, prevention and cure. Padma Shri awardee Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, head of the Centre for Neurosciences, Indian Institute of Science talks about initiatives that are imperative to improving mental health care.
Women scientists and awards
It’s very rare for women scientists to be honoured. There are a lot of doubts about whether women have the energy and ability to head important institutions and departments of science. But it is possible if you are a hard worker and persevere. The problems before women scientists are the same all over the world as science is very demanding. There are bound to be differences between problems men and women face. The two are different nature and the way they think is also not alike.
Brain research needs attention
One third of the diseases in this world are caused by brain disorders. Most disorders don’t have any cure. We only give symptomatic relief without curing the disorder. This is true in the case of depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and similar disorders that carry social stigma. The burden of brain disorders is enormous. But what’s worse is that our health policies don’t give them enough importance. That’s the reason I’m deeply concerned about brain disorders. In India, a large number of children have autism and other developmental disabilities; adults suffer from epilepsy. There are also a host of disorders that affect us as we grow older. So, from birth to death, brain disorders contribute a lot to our uneasiness. There is such a great need to understand why these diseases are caused and what can we do to prevent and cure them. However, there’s not much public awareness on brain disorders. We need people to show more interest in brain research; funding should facilitate the same.
Sowing seeds of interest
As part of our efforts to get students interested in science, we conduct summer training programmes that are attended by thousands of students. We also do a brain awareness week for students and lay-people. Students are amazed when we talk about the brain and its abilities. Many of them come up to us at the end of the session and say that they genuinely have an interest to pursue science as their career. Scientists like us are always inspired by young people.
Training teachers is important
Today, science is progressing rapidly. Even we at the IISc have a tough time keeping abreast with it despite having cutting edge technology at our disposal. And if it’s hard for us, one can imagine how difficult it must be for a college teacher to upgrade lessons. Hence, giving them continuing-education courses helps a great deal. Even though science academies in the country are doing their best, much more has to be done. The country would require at least 7,000 university science teachers in the coming future; the biggest question we ask ourselves everyday is where are those people are going to come from? One solution would be to get back Indian scientists and professionals from abroad and another would be rapidly building capacity. That is difficult because it takes a good decade to build capacity.
More old-age homes
In India, by the end of 2010, there are going to be 100 million people over the age of 60. Lifespan has considerably increased and quite understandably, there will be a definite percentage of them who will develop neuro-degenerative disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimers. It’s a pretty disturbing scenario because on the one hand, people are living longer and on the other, the joint-family system has disintegrated. Soon, it’ll be old couples living alone. And there’s not going to be any kind of private or public healthcare for these people. Their disorders are incurable and there’s lack of numbers in terms of physicians, home-stays and day-care centres. Families will not be able to keep their parents at home, how much ever they love them because they will be too sick to be treated at home. Today, we have hospitals and homes, but no nursing homes to take ‘long-term care’ of these people.
Parental pressure should ease up
Parents look at only one thing — how quickly the child can earn a lot of money and how they can become financially secure. Even Homi Baba’s dad wanted him to become an engineer but he had to fight it and do what he wanted. Parents put undue pressure on their children and carry unlimited expectations from them. Parental love is unconditional: you have to love your child for what he is and not what you want him to become. As economic situations improve, I think that more parents will be open to the idea of letting their kids nurture their interests. They will perhaps realise that it’s important for children to be happy rather than successful.
Let’s course-correct
Initiatives in the field of science have taken off successfully. Funding for many projects has tripled in the last seven years. Even funding for educational institutions has gone up great deal. And so far, the path has been smooth. One has to understand that it is hard to implement things. As long as we have the good sense to course-correct and move ahead with lesser mistakes, it’s going to be successful.
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