Himmatrao Saluba Bawaskar is an Indian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

from

Mahad Mahad ( əɦaːɖ is a city in Raigad district (formerly Kulaba district) situated in the North Konkan region of Maharashtra state, India. It is located from District's headquarter Alibag, and from Mumbai, the state capital of Maharash ...

, Maharashtra. He is known for his research on treatment for

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

stings. Much of his work has been published in the British

medical journal A medical journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that communicates medical information to physicians, other health professionals. Journals that cover many medical specialties are sometimes called general medical journals. History The first ...

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

''. He has also conducted research in the fields of snake bites,

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

s, and

hypothyroidism Hypothyroidism (also called ''underactive thyroid'', ''low thyroid'' or ''hypothyreosis'') is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as po ...

. In 2022, Bawaskar was awarded India's third highest civil award, the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Early life and education

Bawaskar was born to ''Saluba'' and ''Rakhmabai'' in Dehed village (now in Bhokardan, Jalna, Maharashtra) He completed his schooling in

Buldhana Buldhana is the district headquarters and a Municipal Council in the Buldhana District of Amravati division in the Indian State of Maharashtra. Climate Demographics As of the 2011 India census, Buldhana had a population of 67,431. Males con ...

and worked in the farms, restaurants, temples, bookshops, the brick kiln, and held odd jobs to support his education. He completed his studies at

Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur is a medical college located in Ajni which is part of South Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It was founded in 1947 and was affiliated with Nagpur University from 1947 to 1997, and subsequently Maharash ...

. At Nagpur, he faced class- and

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

-based discrimination and had to take a leave of absence for mental health reasons. He later completed an MD from the

B. J. Medical College B. J. Medical College (BJMC) is a medical college located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. The college, administered by the Government of Maharashtra, comprises clinical and para/pre-clinical departments working alongside the Sassoon General Ho ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

in 1981.

Career

After his studies in Nagpur, Bawaskar was appointed in 1976 to a government-funded primary health centre in Birwadi, in

Raigad district Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad fort, Raigad after the fort that ...

. Over the next 40 years of medical career, Bawaskar spent most of his time in the rural

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

region of Maharashtra, at the foothills of Western ghats. At Birwadi, he witnessed high

fatality rate In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people diagnosed with a certain disease, who end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate, the CFR does not take int ...

s of 8–40% due to the stings of

Hottentotta tamulus ''Hottentotta tamulus'', the Indian red scorpion, also known as the eastern Indian scorpion, is a species of scorpion of the family Buthidae. It occurs in most of India, eastern Pakistan and the eastern lowlands of Nepal, and recently from Sri L ...

scorpions; children being majority of the victims. The venom mainly affects the

cardiovascular The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

and

pulmonary system The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies gre ...

, eventually leading to a

pulmonary oedema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive liquid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia and respiratory failure. It is due to ...

, which may cause death. He compiled the findings and further tests were carried out at the

Haffkine Institute The Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing is located in Parel in Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was established on 10 August 1899 by Dr. Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, as a bacteriology research centre called the "Plague Research Labora ...

in Mumbai. These letter stating these findings were published in ''

'' in 1978. Bawaskar tried existing methods of symptomatic treatments with

atropine Atropine is a tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic medication used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate, and to decrease saliva production during surgery. It is typically given i ...

beta-blockers Beta blockers, also spelled β-blockers, are a class of medications that are predominantly used to manage abnormal heart rhythms, and to protect the heart from a second heart attack after a first heart attack (secondary prevention). They are al ...

chlorpromazine Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar dis ...

, and

aminophylline Aminophylline is a compound of the bronchodilator theophylline with ethylenediamine in 2:1 ratio. The ethylenediamine improves solubility, and the aminophylline is usually found as a dihydrate. Aminophylline is less potent and shorter-acting tha ...

. These methods however would not result in noticeable decrease in the death rates. Scorpion

antivenom Antivenom, also known as antivenin, venom antiserum, and antivenom immunoglobulin, is a specific treatment for envenomation. It is composed of antibodies and used to treat certain venomous bites and stings. Antivenoms are recommended only if th ...

has little effect in clinical treatment but application of

prazosin Prazosin is an α1 blocker medication primarily used to treat high blood pressure, symptoms of an enlarged prostate, and nightmares related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a less preferred treatment of high blood pressure. Other ...

reduces the mortality rate to less than 4%. he had published over 70 research articles. and his work has led the fatalities due to scorpion sting to drop from a high of 44% to <1%.

Other work

He has also conducted research in the fields of snake bite envenoming,

. In the

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

region of Maharashtra, Bawaskar has researched on the

chronic renal failure Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of kidney disease in which a gradual loss of kidney function occurs over a period of months to years. Initially generally no symptoms are seen, but later symptoms may include leg swelling, feeling tired, vom ...

associated with

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as ...

contamination of drinking water. He has written opinion pieces on ethics

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

in medicine, public healthcare, violence against doctors, and state of medical research in India.

Early life and education

Career

Other work

References

Further reading