CaPtAiN_pLaNeT
SENIOR MEMBER
News Analysis
Overseas travel spree and local healthcare system
Overseas travel spree and local healthcare system
Shahiduzzaman Khan
Healthcare facilities, particularly in the private sector in the capital city and a few other places, have expanded and developed well in Bangladesh. Even then the number of patients going abroad for treatment has been rising. The situation is really baffling for those who have otherwise been claiming that some of the facilities available in a number of private hospitals in the country are comparable, in quality, to their counterparts in this part of the world and even beyond.
A national daily reported this week that on an average, 0.15 million patients go abroad every year for treatment. Most patients go to India while those belonging to the affluent section prefer going to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and some European countries. Such patients, according to a study, go abroad to undergo by-pass and plastic surgeries, cancer treatment, organ replacement etc. With them also go a substantial amount of precious foreign currency for meeting their treatment expense.
There is no denying that there are a host of specialist physicians in the country and their diagnosis capabilities are beyond question. But their services are hardly available for the patients admitted to the public hospitals. They remain busy with their practices in private hospitals and clinics. Even at their practising places they can hardly devote sufficient time to patients. They visit at least 50-60 patients at the clinics every evening for earning as much money as possible.
A good number of private hospitals and clinics have brought modern medical machines and equipment for various check-ups and examinations, but men operating those machines are not always technically sound. There is an acute shortage of qualified and competent medical technicians and laboratory assistants in the country. Inexperienced personnel handling such equipments bring at times greater problems for treatment of patients.
Besides, the country does not have the facilities for critical analysis of blood samples for rare diseases. For that matter, either the samples need to be sent to the developed countries or the patients have to go abroad for the required treatment. Facilities for closed-end monitoring of the patients are hardly available in Bangladesh. Due to carelessness and negligence of duty on the part of doctors and nurses, many patients die in public hospitals. Lax monitoring also causes fatalities in private hospitals as well. None is found accountable for such mishaps. This is really frustrating.
However, in many cases, it has just become a fashion for the affluent people to go abroad to recover from even minor illnesses. Although the medical equipment used in the local hospitals and clinics are almost the same compared to those of the other countries, lack of quality services encourages such affluent people to go abroad. In many cases, doctors advise critical patients, who have to undergo micro-surgeries, to go abroad because hospitals in the developed countries are more experienced in dealing with sensitive cases.
In such a backdrop, why patients prefer to go abroad is self-explanatory. In the private hospitals like Square, LabAid, United or Apollo, open heart surgery costs more or less Tk 0.6 million. But in India, the cost is only Tk 0.3 million. A patient can eventually save Tk 0.1 to Tk 0.2 million even after meeting all costs that include his and his aide's travel and food charges. If one can save such an amount of money, he or she will definitely prefer going India or elsewhere for further treatment.
Why treatment cost is so exorbitant in Bangladesh was never taken up seriously by the authorities concerned for a critical review. There is no virtual control over the fixation of charges in the private hospitals. Charges are levied at the whims of the owners of such medical clinics. It varies from clinic to clinic. The government is trying to streamline the system through a 'pragmatic' health policy. But the policy is yet to get its final approval.
The most striking feature of the country's healthcare system is that the doctors here, particularly in the public hospitals, colleges and universities, are allowed to do private practice. In the neighbouring states, such practice is strictly prohibited. Doctors can do little justice to the patients if they have to visit so many patients a day. However, the draft health policy has proposed to slap restriction on their private practice while serving in public hospitals and educational institutions.
Professional attitude is most strikingly absent among most physicians and surgeons in the country. They do need to be imbued with true spirit of professionalism and patriotism. Unfortunately, most physicians, posted in rural areas, remain absent in their workplaces for months together and stay in the capital only to pursue their cases for transfer to the city or elsewhere. In the process, village people fail to get their services. The government is, however, preparing to enact legislation in order to make their stay in rural areas for at least a year mandatory.
The government is reportedly developing Medical Practice and Private Clinics and Laboratories Ordinance (Amendment) in order to tightly regulate private medical practitioners, hospitals, foreign doctors and nurses. If the ordinance gets through, private medical practitioners and hospitals may face criminal charges and can be sued under tough new laws to protect patients from maltreatment. However, it remains to be seen how such laws will be implemented in the present context of Bangladesh.
Cases of mismanagement in the public hospitals are galore as local nurses, brothers and ward boys are often found to be more powerful than doctors. In most cases, the petty employees in different government medical college hospitals show little or no respect to doctors, let alone providing good services to the patients. Proper management in the healthcare sector can improve the situation through a strategic plan and its strict implementation. If this can, indeed, be ensured, it will facilitate the country to become a hub of better healthcare.
szkhan@dhaka.net
Overseas travel spree and local healthcare system
Overseas travel spree and local healthcare system
Shahiduzzaman Khan
Healthcare facilities, particularly in the private sector in the capital city and a few other places, have expanded and developed well in Bangladesh. Even then the number of patients going abroad for treatment has been rising. The situation is really baffling for those who have otherwise been claiming that some of the facilities available in a number of private hospitals in the country are comparable, in quality, to their counterparts in this part of the world and even beyond.
A national daily reported this week that on an average, 0.15 million patients go abroad every year for treatment. Most patients go to India while those belonging to the affluent section prefer going to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and some European countries. Such patients, according to a study, go abroad to undergo by-pass and plastic surgeries, cancer treatment, organ replacement etc. With them also go a substantial amount of precious foreign currency for meeting their treatment expense.
There is no denying that there are a host of specialist physicians in the country and their diagnosis capabilities are beyond question. But their services are hardly available for the patients admitted to the public hospitals. They remain busy with their practices in private hospitals and clinics. Even at their practising places they can hardly devote sufficient time to patients. They visit at least 50-60 patients at the clinics every evening for earning as much money as possible.
A good number of private hospitals and clinics have brought modern medical machines and equipment for various check-ups and examinations, but men operating those machines are not always technically sound. There is an acute shortage of qualified and competent medical technicians and laboratory assistants in the country. Inexperienced personnel handling such equipments bring at times greater problems for treatment of patients.
Besides, the country does not have the facilities for critical analysis of blood samples for rare diseases. For that matter, either the samples need to be sent to the developed countries or the patients have to go abroad for the required treatment. Facilities for closed-end monitoring of the patients are hardly available in Bangladesh. Due to carelessness and negligence of duty on the part of doctors and nurses, many patients die in public hospitals. Lax monitoring also causes fatalities in private hospitals as well. None is found accountable for such mishaps. This is really frustrating.
However, in many cases, it has just become a fashion for the affluent people to go abroad to recover from even minor illnesses. Although the medical equipment used in the local hospitals and clinics are almost the same compared to those of the other countries, lack of quality services encourages such affluent people to go abroad. In many cases, doctors advise critical patients, who have to undergo micro-surgeries, to go abroad because hospitals in the developed countries are more experienced in dealing with sensitive cases.
In such a backdrop, why patients prefer to go abroad is self-explanatory. In the private hospitals like Square, LabAid, United or Apollo, open heart surgery costs more or less Tk 0.6 million. But in India, the cost is only Tk 0.3 million. A patient can eventually save Tk 0.1 to Tk 0.2 million even after meeting all costs that include his and his aide's travel and food charges. If one can save such an amount of money, he or she will definitely prefer going India or elsewhere for further treatment.
Why treatment cost is so exorbitant in Bangladesh was never taken up seriously by the authorities concerned for a critical review. There is no virtual control over the fixation of charges in the private hospitals. Charges are levied at the whims of the owners of such medical clinics. It varies from clinic to clinic. The government is trying to streamline the system through a 'pragmatic' health policy. But the policy is yet to get its final approval.
The most striking feature of the country's healthcare system is that the doctors here, particularly in the public hospitals, colleges and universities, are allowed to do private practice. In the neighbouring states, such practice is strictly prohibited. Doctors can do little justice to the patients if they have to visit so many patients a day. However, the draft health policy has proposed to slap restriction on their private practice while serving in public hospitals and educational institutions.
Professional attitude is most strikingly absent among most physicians and surgeons in the country. They do need to be imbued with true spirit of professionalism and patriotism. Unfortunately, most physicians, posted in rural areas, remain absent in their workplaces for months together and stay in the capital only to pursue their cases for transfer to the city or elsewhere. In the process, village people fail to get their services. The government is, however, preparing to enact legislation in order to make their stay in rural areas for at least a year mandatory.
The government is reportedly developing Medical Practice and Private Clinics and Laboratories Ordinance (Amendment) in order to tightly regulate private medical practitioners, hospitals, foreign doctors and nurses. If the ordinance gets through, private medical practitioners and hospitals may face criminal charges and can be sued under tough new laws to protect patients from maltreatment. However, it remains to be seen how such laws will be implemented in the present context of Bangladesh.
Cases of mismanagement in the public hospitals are galore as local nurses, brothers and ward boys are often found to be more powerful than doctors. In most cases, the petty employees in different government medical college hospitals show little or no respect to doctors, let alone providing good services to the patients. Proper management in the healthcare sector can improve the situation through a strategic plan and its strict implementation. If this can, indeed, be ensured, it will facilitate the country to become a hub of better healthcare.
szkhan@dhaka.net