Children hold the key to a better world
Reporter: MARINA BERRY
Date published: 22 December 2009
Oldham doctor’s passionate plea for greater vision
A RETIRED Oldham paediatrician, world-famous for his pioneering work with crying babies, has written a book aimed at international leaders in a bid to change the world.
Dr Chickaballapur Jayachandra (pictured, left) helped to end sleepless nights for many Oldham parents when he worked as a consultant at the Royal Oldham Hospital.
Now aged 81, he retired in 1993, but has continued his campaign to promote understanding of children as a path to a better society.
He believes much of society’s ills could be prevented if people understood and acted on warning signs while children were still young.
And he has now invested two years of his life and £4,000 of his own money into writing and publishing his book, “Fairer Principles for a Fairer Society,” which states “the world is in a mess.”
His book will be given free of charge to national and global decision-makers.
Dr Jayachandra had 2,000 copies printed, and is poised for a re-run if there is enough demand for his work.
His passion for children to be understood led him to work for free in his last five years in Oldham, helping to resolve the problems of constantly-crying babies and their distressed parents.
He devised some basic “common sense” principles to help parents understand babies and children, which proved a resounding success for many struggling to cope.
The retired medic has seen a rapid deterioration in children’s mental health and welfare, and believes politicians and professionals have been letting them down.
The book is his way of trying to make a difference.
He said: “This is a campaign book to be distributed free of charge to selected individuals, institutions, the media and politicians in several countries and plead with them to show greater vision, imagination, common sense, conscience and courage to back the fairer principles I have enunciated.
“The message is simple. For any building, if the supra-structure is to be stable, the foundation on which it is built should be strong and stable.
“In human society, children are the foundation on which the adult society is built. If the foundation is weak, the supra-structure is liable to crack and crumble.
“Currently, human supra-structure is cracking all over the world, manifested in numerous forms of crime, behaviour disorders and mental illnesses.
“Weakness in the infrastructure is reflected in numerous forms of behaviour disorders and psychosomatic disorders in children. The world is in a mess.”
Dr Jayachandra des-cribed his principles as the “bricks and mortar” for strengthening the foundation, and said all individuals and institutions had a moral responsibility to promote them.
Anyone who wants a copy of the book should contact Dr Jayachandra at:
crjbook@hotmail.co.uk
