Original version

BBC World Service South Asia

People Fixing The World

Podcasts

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

A weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them.

Presenter Myra Anubi speaks to reporters, experts and innovators to investigate how effective different solutions are, share their successes and inspire listeners with what is possible.

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

People Fixing The World: Training India’s Fake Doctors

Discussion & Talk

News

Training India’s Fake Doctors

31/07/2018 GMT

BBC World Service - People Fixing The World, Training India’s Fake Doctors

Can a controversial crash course in medicine help improve the healthcare system in India?

More than half the people claiming to be doctors in India have no medical qualifications. Can a controversial crash course in medicine help improve the healthcare they offer?

It’s thought that more than half the people claiming to be doctors in India have no medical qualifications. They are known as “quacks”, operating illegally, but often ignored by the authorities because of a shortage of qualified doctors. They regularly misdiagnose diseases and prescribe the wrong drugs, and some even perform surgeries in makeshift clinics. One prominent, qualified, doctor has started a controversial scheme, offering a quick crash course in medicine to thousands of his untrained counterparts. In return they have to stop calling themselves doctors, and rebrand themselves as “healthcare workers”. At the very least, he says, they will do less harm to their patients, and the West Bengal government has agreed, rolling the project out across the state. But many in the medical establishment are appalled by the idea, arguing that a crash course isn’t enough, and the scheme legitimises criminals who have operated illegally for years.
World Hacks visits two villages outside of Kolkata - one with a newly reformed “healthcare worker”, and another with a self-confessed fake doctor - to ask if the controversial scheme can really work.

Reporter: Sam Judah

Photo Caption: Abhijit Choudhury
Photo Credit: BBC

Accessibility links

Programme Index

People Fixing The World

Training India’s Fake Doctors

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service