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It's a Vets' life ! Speaker: Dr. Gustavo Pinto, Solramal Court, Opp. Gomes Pereira, St. Tome, Panjim 403 001 Ph. 9822179574 (R) 228374 Dr Gustavo Pinto traces his love for animals to his early years in Mombassa-Kenya, where he went on numerous animal safaris and where the love for animals was sown and nurtured. Despite strong misgivings from his family and friends for selecting a lowly profession, he chose to become a Vet. He remembers the day he visited the Veterinary Hospital in Tonca to seek the then Vet's advice on the choice of his career. As the vet went into explaining the trials and tribulations of a thankless job, in stepped a little girl looking to treat her wounded cat. Looking at the mangy animals the vet immediately replied, "Throw the cat in the dustbin, I will give you a new cat." Incidents such as these only served to strengthen Dr Pinto's resolve to pursue his dream. After finishing his Degree in Veterinary Science in Mathura, he returned back to Goa for a year, after which he went back to Mathura to complete his Masters in Surgery. He then applied and got a scholarship to work in Brazil. He also toured much of the US and West Europe, meeting and working under some of the renowned vets of the country. Having completed 18 years of service as a Government vet, Dr. Pinto has worked at the Goa Milk Union, Mandovi Hatcheries and the Hospitals of the Dept. of Animal Husbandry in Bicholim, Mapusa and Panjim. Dr. Gustavo believes that 'if you live life well, once is enough' and there is no other way to live it well than to be a vet !!! While recounting little anecdotes from his everyday life, Dr Gustavo had the audience at the Friday Balcao in splits. Once a lady came into his clinic and complained about a problem of ticks. Dr Pinto said that he carefully checked the dog all over, after which he brought it to the lady's notice that her pet did not have any ticks on its body. It was then that he was politely informed that it wasn't the dog, who was plagued by the dreaded parasite, but the lady herself. Dr Gustavo works generally with domestic animals and pets like dogs and cat, though he also has to deal with larger animals like pigs and cows. Though he does get his thrills wildlife enthusiasts and forest dept volunteers bring along wounded animals like pythons, civet cats, crocodiles, eagles, mouse deer, etc for his expert services. Dr. Gustavo does mention that a vets life is not all fun; he often puts in fifteen hours a day and just like a normal doctor, receives calls at any time during the day or night. His long hours of work are sometimes interspersed by difficult patients, but more often by difficult owners. Dr. Gustavo, however, finds it a joy treating dogs and says, 'they shower on you true, unconditional love and never pass judgments'. Dr. Pinto strongly believes in touch therapy; he believes that a doctors' hands must heal and convey that empathy and concern, that is so necessary for healing. Replying to
question on the controversial stray dogs issue, Dr Pinto feels there
is need for greater interaction between the Veterinary Council of
India--Goa branch, the Goa Veterinary Association, NGO's, the
Government and the people, to come up with joint, participatory
solutions. Mandatory pre-marital HIV testing On 17 January 2002 a local daily carried a report that the Dept. of Health of the Govt. of Goa was planning to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage. To many it was an innocuous report that one would just glance over and then forget. Not so for organizations and people working with or infected by the virus, and who have been battling the government on issues of privacy and maintenance of confidentiality of medical reports. They see this potential law as yet another attempt to infringe upon the fundamental rights of a citizen. John, from the Positive People, feels that when one hears of the government wanting to implement such a law it is pertinent for the public to debate on the issue and ask certain relevant questions. What is the government trying to achieve through such a law. If the law is aimed as a preventive measure, who effectively will it serve its purpose? Are the financial costs of implementing the law justified? What are the remedial measures the government will take after the case is detected and most importantly what do other countries, who have implemented this law, have to report. Seemingly there is nothing novel in this to be law, it has been implemented in numerous states in the US, who, however, abolished it within a short while as it was proving counter productive. It was observed that the number of marriages in ------- (name of the state) dropped by --------% due to fear and the bias associated with being tested for HIV, then of course there is nothing to stop a couple from registering their marriage in another state where the law is not in force. Also important to note is that each person going in for an Elisa test must be provided pre-test and post-test counseling, which means the government will have to appoint a good many counselors. Presently, the counselors appointed by Positive People at GMC meet on an average of 20 persons a day which means they have just 24 minutes per person. How many counselors would you need for even a conservative figure of 5000 couples or 10,000 people? It was also noticed that those interested in registering their marriage were not essentially from the high risk group but rather the low risk group. Thus it was noticed that after testing -----thousand couples only ------- proved positive. John thus cautions that this can be an extremely expensive activity if you divide this number of cases detected with the real cost of the tests. John of the Positive People feels that this government subsidy could well be utilized elsewhere. The 2 types of tests presently being employed to detect the virus are the antigen test which can detect the virus if it has been contracted within the last 10 days and the anti body test which can detect the virus ----- 6 months. But what is important to understand is that there is nothing to stop either of the partners from contracting the virus after the test is done or after they are married. Through the implementation of this law it is also the government's assumption that the virus is transmitted from one local to the other. The fact that Goa is an international tourist destination and sexual relationships do exist between foreigners and locals has been discounted and therefore the capacity of a foreigner to transmit the virus. What has also been observed is that the medical staff at the GMC does not maintain the confidentiality of a patients' medical report. Positive People have come across cases wherein the public has got to know about a persons HIV status even before the patient himself. The social stigma that follows can have a traumatic effect on the patient. Often doctors in the GMC isolate the patient and even refuse to touch them, the feeble reason given that they do not have the necessary kits, besides of course the patient is provided with little or no counseling. HIV/AIDS patients can, under good medical supervision, live on for years. What is the government's plan to rehabilitate them, are some of the unanswered questions, says John. The fundamental question, however, being debated the nation over is does an HIV/AIDS patient have a right to marry. The Indian Constitution provides each person with a right to marry. The Supreme Court has now temporarily suspended this right. However Human Rights groups all over the country believe that HIV/AIDS patients should be permitted to marry if they have a consenting partner. The law making HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage will be yet another denial of this fundamental right. The debate, however, gets dicey with the statistical data accumulated by Positive People through their field work showing that an increasing number of married women between the age group of 22-28 years are showing up HIV positive within the first year of marriage. Their experience shows that parents are gladly marrying their daughters off to well to shippies and gulfies only to hear that she has contracted AIDS from her husband. It is this group of concerned citizens who feel that such a law should be implemented. But the crux of the matter is this, where then does a common citizen stop the government from interfering with their private lives? If we keep giving in, we may be going the China way. It is precisely for this reason that Positive People feel the eminent need for a debate; the medical fraternity, which has thus far maintained an astute silence, but will be the implementer of the law, needs to voice their opinion and share their experience. There is also a need to look at other options such as voluntary testing. It's a
Vet's Life! GOA DESC RESOURCE
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