Binayak Sen featured in British medical journal

After being convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition, “barefoot doctor” Binayak Sen has been published in the recent edition of Lancet, a prestigious British medical journal.

The article, in the February 12 edition, speaks on the inequity of health care in India with flourishing international medical tourism on one hand and health care being completely inaccessible to the poor on the other hand.

Sen’s wife, Dr Ilina said that the article was commissioned by Lancet in August 2009, when Sen was out on bail. On December 24 last year, the Raipur court convicted Sen, Guha and alleged Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal of conspiring to commit sedition and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Skeptical about the impact of article published in such a prestigious magazine, Ilina said, “I am quite sure not many in the Chhattisgarh government may have even heard of Lancet.”

She added, “The international community has always been supportive of Dr Sen’s work among the tribals and this article reaffirms that.”