Himmatrao Bawaskar

Padma Shri
Born (1951-03-03) March 3, 1951
Dehed village (now in Bhokardan, Jalna, Maharashtra)
EducationMBBS, MD
OccupationPhysician
Known forScorpion sting envenomation research
SpouseDr. Pramodini Bawaskar
Children2

Himmatrao Saluba Bawaskar is an Indian physician from Mahad, Maharashtra. He is known for his research on treatment for scorpion stings. Much of his work has been published in the British medical journal The Lancet. He has also conducted research in the fields of snake bites, cardiovascular diseases, and hypothyroidism.

In 2022, Bawaskar was awarded India's third highest civil award, the Padma Shri.[1][2]

Early life and education

Bawaskar was born to Saluba and Rakhmabai in Dehed village (now in Bhokardan, Jalna, Maharashtra)[3] He completed his schooling in Buldhana and worked in the farms, restaurants, temples, bookshops, the brick kiln, and held odd jobs to support his education.[4][5]

He completed his studies at Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur. At Nagpur, he faced class- and caste-based discrimination[6] and had to take a leave of absence for mental health reasons.[7] He later completed an MD from the B. J. Medical College, Pune in 1981.[8][5][9]

Career

After his studies in Nagpur, Bawaskar was appointed in 1976 to a government-funded primary health centre in Birwadi, in Raigad district.[10] Over the next 40 years of medical career, Bawaskar spent most of his time in the rural Konkan region of Maharashtra, at the foothills of Western ghats.

At Birwadi, he witnessed high fatality rates of 8–40% due to the stings of Hottentotta tamulus scorpions; children being majority of the victims.[11] The venom mainly affects the cardiovascular and pulmonary system, eventually leading to a pulmonary oedema, which may cause death. He compiled the findings and further tests were carried out at the Haffkine Institute in Mumbai. These latter stating these findings were published in The Lancet in 1978.[12][13][14]

Bawaskar tried existing methods of symptomatic treatments with atropine, beta-blockers, chlorpromazine, and aminophylline.[15] These methods however would not result in noticeable decrease in the death rates. Scorpion antivenom has little effect in clinical treatment but application of prazosin reduces the mortality rate to less than 4%.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

As of 2016 he had published over 70 research articles.[15][24] and his work has led the fatalities due to scorpion sting to drop from a high of 44% to <1%.[9][25]

Other work

He has also conducted research in the fields of snake bite envenoming, cardiovascular diseases,[26][27] hypothyroidism.[28]

In the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Bawaskar has researched on the chronic renal failure associated with heavy metals contamination of drinking water.[9]

He has written opinion pieces on ethics[29][30] corruption in medicine,[2][31] public healthcare,[32] violence against doctors,[33] and state of medical research[24] in India.

References

  1. ↑ "Padma Awards 2022 announced". pib.gov.in. Press Information Bureau. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 Shelar, Jyoti (28 January 2022). "'Promote grassroots research': Padma awardee Bawaskar to government". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Bawaskar 2009, p. 2–3.
  4. ↑ Bawaskar 2009, p. 47–73.
  5. 1 2 Sethu, Divya (27 January 2022). "Padma Shri: Dr Himmatrao Finds a Path-Breaking Cure for Scorpion Sting". The Better India. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  6. ↑ Iyer, Malathy (9 September 2019). "50 years after caste persecution, two renowned doctors speak out". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  7. ↑ Bawaskar 2009, p. 127.
  8. ↑ Bawaskar 2009, p. 132–138.
  9. 1 2 3 Deshp, Chaitanya (28 January 2022). "Born in Marathwada, brought up in Vidarbha, worked in Konkan, researcher for entire humanity". The Times of India. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Bawaskar 2009, p. 104.
  11. ↑ Bawaskar, H.S.; P.H. Bawaskar (1998). "Indian red scorpion envenoming". Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 65 (3): 383–391. doi:10.1016/0041-0101(95)00005-7. PMID 10771989.
  12. ↑ Gaitonde, B.B.; Jadhav, S.S.; Bavaskar, H.S. (February 1978). "Pulmonary edema after scorpion sting". The Lancet. 311 (8061): 445–446. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(78)91238-2. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 75473. S2CID 46687120. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  13. ↑ Bawaskar, H.S. (1977). "Scorpion sting and cardiovascular complications". Indian Heart Journal. 29 (4): 228. PMID 562842.
  14. ↑ Bawaskar, H. S. (6 March 1982). "Diagnostic cardiac premonitory signs and symptoms of red scorpion sting". The Lancet. 1 (8271): 552–554. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(82)92057-8. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 6120403. S2CID 39513916. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  15. 1 2 Kale, Ajinkya A. (January 2012). "A Crusade Against Scorpion Sting: Life and Works of Dr. Himmatrao Bawaskar". Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 1 (1): 52–55. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.94453. ISSN 2249-4863. PMC 3893953. PMID 24479002.
  16. ↑ Bawaskar, H. S.; Bawaskar, P. H. (1 March 1986). "Prazosin in management of cardiovascular manifestations of scorpion sting". The Lancet. 1 (8479): 510–511. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92979-x. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 2869255. S2CID 46144311. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  17. ↑ Bawaskar, H.S.; Bawaskar, P.H. (1 September 1996). "Severe envenoming by the Indian red scorpion Mesobuthus tamulus: the use of prazosin therapy". QJM. 89 (9): 701–704. doi:10.1093/qjmed/89.9.701. PMID 8917746. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Bawaskar, H. S.; Bawaskar, P. H. (1 August 1999). "Management of scorpion sting". Heart. 82 (2): 253–254. doi:10.1136/hrt.82.2.253. ISSN 1355-6037. PMC 1729131. PMID 10465613. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  19. ↑ Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba; Bawaskar, Pramodini Himmatrao (8 March 2008). "Woke up paralysed—without injury or stroke". The Lancet. 371 (9615): 870. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60385-2. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 18328933. S2CID 205950152.
  20. ↑ Bawaskar, H.S.; P.H. Bawaskar (2008). "Scorpion sting: A study of clinical manifestations and treatment regimes" (PDF). Current Science. 95 (9): 1337–1341.
  21. ↑ Bawaskar, H.S.; P.H. Bawaskar (2007). "Utility of scorpion anti-venin vs. prazosin in the management of severe Mesobuthus tamulus (Indian red scorpion) envenoming at rural settings" (PDF). Journal of the Association of Physicians of India. 55: 14–21. PMID 17444339. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  22. ↑ Bawaskar, H. S.; Bawaskar, P. H. (5 January 2011). "Efficacy and safety of scorpion antivenom plus prazosin compared with prazosin alone for venomous scorpion (Mesobuthus tamulus) sting: randomised open label clinical trial". BMJ. 342 (3): 7136. doi:10.1136/bmj.c7136. PMC 3016167. PMID 21209062.
  23. ↑ Mills, E. J.; Ford, N. (5 January 2011). "Research into scorpion stings". BMJ. 342 (3): 7369. doi:10.1136/bmj.c7369. PMID 21209063. S2CID 29659494.
  24. 1 2 "Re: Nearly six in 10 medical colleges in India did not publish any research in past 10 years". 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  25. ↑ Oak, Sanjay (4 April 2021). "मोकळे आकाश.. : वृश्चिक-मैत्र". Loksatta (in Marathi). Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  26. ↑ Alirol, Emilie; Sharma, Sanjib Kumar; Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba; Kuch, Ulrich; Chappuis, François (26 January 2010). "Snake Bite in South Asia: A Review". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 4 (1): e603. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000603. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 2811174. PMID 20126271. S2CID 2336157.
  27. ↑ Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba; Bawaskar, Pramodini Himmatrao (12 January 2019). "Snakebite envenoming". The Lancet. 393 (10167): 131. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32745-4. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 30638580. S2CID 58621342.
  28. ↑ Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba; Bawaskar, Pramodini Himmatrao (2020). "Thyroid gland: Victim of iodinated salt". International Journal of Clinical Practice. 74 (8): e13523. doi:10.1111/ijcp.13523. ISSN 1742-1241. PMID 32365246. S2CID 218504892.
  29. ↑ Shelar, Jyoti (22 July 2019). "Should doctors go beyond advising patients?". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  30. ↑ Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba (26 August 2019). "Can doctors advise beyond the purely professional?". Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. 4 (3): 209–210. doi:10.20529/IJME.2019.035. PMID 31378716. S2CID 199234866. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  31. ↑ Sachan, Dinsa (16 November 2013). "Tackling corruption in Indian medicine". The Lancet. 382 (9905): e23–e24. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62364-8. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 24251325. S2CID 30701097.
  32. ↑ Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba; Bawaskar, Pramodini Himmatrao (7 May 2011). "Towards universal health coverage in India". The Lancet. 377 (9777): 1570–1571. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60639-9. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 21550478. S2CID 19962431.
  33. ↑ Bawaskar, Himmatrao Saluba (13 September 2014). "Violence against doctors in India". The Lancet. 384 (9947): 955–956. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61629-9. PMID 25220972. S2CID 37481810.

Further reading

  • Bawaskar, Himmatrao (September 2009). Barrister's Brat (Autobiography) [बॅरिस्टरचं कार्टं (आत्मचरित्र)] (in English and Marathi). Mumbai: Majestic Publishing House.
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