THE New Nation reported on Tuesday that common people particularly middle-income group are gradually falling into poverty trap due to the rising healthcare costs especially for treating cancer and kidney-related diseases. Treatment expenditures are growing day by day causing immense sufferings to patients and their families. Rich people have lot of money and often they take treatment abroad. On the other hand, the poor and middle income people live on limited income and cost of treatment is gradually going beyond their reach. The government has shredded the responsibility privatizing the health services opening the door of commercialization of medical treatments. The absence of health insurance, which is mandatory in the western countries, has further made the poor vulnerable to individually paying excessive treatment bills.
In some estimate people spend 63 percent of the medical expenses from their own pockets as against government’s share of 37 percent meaning people who attempt to take treatment at government hospitals where they have to buy medicine and pay other imagistic cost. The cost of running hospitals, buying equipment and rising cost of medicine is only adding to cost of treatment on daily basis.
Treatment cost in private hospitals is higher and at highly specialized hospitals it counts several lakh taka for just several days. Even at mid-level hospitals the cost is exorbitant and private clinics and hospitals use their facilities as a business center rather treating patients with humane care. Needless to say that government hospitals are having limited seats and treatment facilities with patients overcrowding for admission. But doctors working in those hospitals often force patients to take admission at private hospitals or clinic. They even engage agents at hospitals’ gates to lure patients to private facilities promising better and quick treatment. But they end up often with poor treatment and hefty medical bills forcing them to borrow from relatives and sell property to repay the debt. Many are becoming penniless after such treatment.
Estimates suggest that the government budgetary allocation for medicare is less than four percent of the entire budget for health and population sector. So treatment is a private responsibility in which the state has hardly any obligation to meet. Moreover doctors posted at rural health complexes and other government clinics don’t stay at their place of duty causing the local patients to visit doctors in the district towns or in the capital. It means spending a lot for treatment. Even the Prime Minister’s directive to doctors to stay at their workplace is being largely ignored.
The problem highlighted the growing gap in our society where the state now in reality disowns treatment responsibility of the poor. But the poor don’t know now how to foot the treatment bills and save life.
