HYDERABAD: Shankar Dada MBBS had no clue about spurious drugs and had to suffer.
It is not a line from the story of the `Shankar Dada’ series of films but a real life experience of mega star Chiranjeevi who donned the title role in the film in which his character suffered the effect of spurious drugs.
The revelation came out in a meeting when Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president Chiranjeevi met doctors at a function here today. Speaking about the menace of spurious drugs, Chiranjeevi gave an account of the suffering he underwent.
``When I was touring Nellore and Prakasam districts, I had a bad throat. I took two courses of antibiotics but there was no improvement. When I showed the medicines to a doctor, he said they were spurious ones,’’ Chiranjeevi recalled.
He said the drug control department in the State had to be strengthened. He met doctors at a function organised by the PRP Doctors’ Forum to pronounce their support to him. Speaking on the occasion, the PRP president said tribal folks were suffering the most and added that several of them had skin diseases due to lack of clean water. The 108 emergency medical service couldn’t reach them due to bad roads, he stated.
He said when he was in the US and had gone forward to donate blood, the doctors there rejected the initiative since he was an Indian. ``They won’t take the blood of of a non-resident Indian living there since they fear that our blood contains malaria,’’ Chiranjeevi lamented.
When he went to the Gandhi Hospital and the EN T Hospital for film shootings, the stench there was unbearable, the PRP chief stated and added that the situation in Kurnool district was so pathetic that dogs and pigs took away newborn babies if no one cared. He promised that his party, if voted to power, would give due importance to the health sector.
Speaking on the occasion, PRP general secretary P Mithra stated that if the PRP came to power, it would upgrade all the government hospitals to the international standard. The PRP government, if formed, would treat female infanticide as a crime and deal with it accordingly.
Dr Chandrasekhar, who presided over the function, said the budget for the health sector had to be enhanced and everyone should be given insurance cards. Reduction of tax on medical equipment and advancement of loans to doctors at a lower interest rate were also the need of the hour, he said. Convener of the forum Dr Samaram said the PRP would strive to create Arogya Andhra Pradesh.