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Casteism Among Indian Doctors: A Critical Review

Received: 17 November 2020     Accepted: 3 December 2020     Published: 8 December 2020
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Abstract

In India, caste-based differentiation is directly related to the socio-economic and socio-cultural status of an individual. In the past studies have shown that people's health outcomes are related to their social group and position in the social gradient. India has witnessed the suicide of promising doctors who were alleged to bullying because of their caste. The social evil called casteism is spreading its branches in every level and sector. But the disappointing fact is that no policy or norms or planning or agenda can uproot it. As it is embedded in the subconscious mind of civilians and is carried over generation after generation. The present review tries to point out in detail the presence of casteism among the Indian healthcare system. Moreover, this study also discussed if this caste-based system also discriminates patients from getting the healthcare facility. In this review all the past and present literature were searched extensively and then the finding of all the studies were discussed in a comprehensive manner. The result of the study showed that at present Indian health service system is not at all equipped with the addressing the casteism among doctors and other healthcare sevice providers. An important option could be increasing the number of dalits in the different level of healthcare sector. Weather implication of this option in practical scenario is possible that needs further evaluation. Making policies that ensures the adequate representation of members of excluded communities in healthcare can certainly reduce the cultural discrimination and prejudice.

Published in World Journal of Public Health (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14
Page(s) 99-104
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Casteism, Healthcare Sector, Doctor, Dalit, Discrimination

References
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    Arindaam Arjunrao Pol. (2020). Casteism Among Indian Doctors: A Critical Review. World Journal of Public Health, 5(4), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14

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    Arindaam Arjunrao Pol. Casteism Among Indian Doctors: A Critical Review. World J. Public Health 2020, 5(4), 99-104. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14

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    AMA Style

    Arindaam Arjunrao Pol. Casteism Among Indian Doctors: A Critical Review. World J Public Health. 2020;5(4):99-104. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14,
      author = {Arindaam Arjunrao Pol},
      title = {Casteism Among Indian Doctors: A Critical Review},
      journal = {World Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {99-104},
      doi = {10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20200504.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.wjph.20200504.14},
      abstract = {In India, caste-based differentiation is directly related to the socio-economic and socio-cultural status of an individual. In the past studies have shown that people's health outcomes are related to their social group and position in the social gradient. India has witnessed the suicide of promising doctors who were alleged to bullying because of their caste. The social evil called casteism is spreading its branches in every level and sector. But the disappointing fact is that no policy or norms or planning or agenda can uproot it. As it is embedded in the subconscious mind of civilians and is carried over generation after generation. The present review tries to point out in detail the presence of casteism among the Indian healthcare system. Moreover, this study also discussed if this caste-based system also discriminates patients from getting the healthcare facility. In this review all the past and present literature were searched extensively and then the finding of all the studies were discussed in a comprehensive manner. The result of the study showed that at present Indian health service system is not at all equipped with the addressing the casteism among doctors and other healthcare sevice providers. An important option could be increasing the number of dalits in the different level of healthcare sector. Weather implication of this option in practical scenario is possible that needs further evaluation. Making policies that ensures the adequate representation of members of excluded communities in healthcare can certainly reduce the cultural discrimination and prejudice.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Radiodiagnosis, A. J. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Mangalore, India

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