The Knowledge Management team at KHPT on April 21 organized a colloquium for staff titled, ‘The Munna Bhai effect: Can hospitals make us forget the ‘patient’ tag while treating us?’. The talk was given by Mr. L Subramani, Chief Copy Editor, Deccan Herald, who lost his vision at a young age due to a condition called retina pigmentosa, and has nevertheless gone on to work as a journalist for 24 years, and is an author, avid blogger, a book reviewer and explorer of tech products.

Mr. Subramani shared his perspective on access from the point of view of persons with disability. He touched upon some of his experiences as a patient in hospitals when he tested positive for COVID-19 and when he underwent a treatment for a heart attack, during which his disability was not taken into account during care, making his experience more stressful. He said that health and access must not be viewed  merely in its physical sense, but people’s mindsets on disability must be changed. He added that people with disability must be considered a part of the system, and stressed the need for accessible health facilities, keeping aspects of accessibility in mind while designing any programme or policy, and implementing effectively the already-existing policies on accessibility. The session was attended by over 80 staff members from KHPT.

Image sourced online