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GOVT HOSPITALS IN CITY

'Free' treatment denied as not everything is for free

SHAHEEN MOLLAH
Many a poor patient is forced to leave government hospitals midway through their treatment for want of money, while others languish untreated for months in hospital beds being unable to pay, exposing just how expensive 'free' treatment can be.
Although about 60 percent of beds in the government-run hospitals are designated as free, the reality is often starkly different for patients of the lower income bracket.
Shamsher Ali, 28, a day labourer, hails from Tetulia, Panchagarh. He has been lying on Bed 10, Ward 1 at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) for more than two months now. One of his heart valves is not functioning and he was sent here after being treated at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMUH) for about one and a half months.
The treatment has cost him dearly. He had to sell his two cows and one bicycle and also to borrow Tk 15,000 to bear the expenses of medicine and tests. Now, after all the tests have shown that one of his valves is out of order, he does not have a penny for the operation he immediately needs.
Current hospital regulations stipulate that food, beds and some medicine, usually the cheaper ones, as well as some tests, again usually the cheaper ones, should be free. But in reality patients often need more than this, making their treatment costlier than their means.
Even a basic CT scan costs Tk 2,000, while more complicated ones cost as much as Tk 4,000. An Angiogram, x-ray of arteries or veins, costs around Tk 5,000, including medicine, while one round of chemotherapy costs Tk 3,000, including medicine. Cancer patients often require several rounds of chemotherapy.
The costs for Ali's operation are impossible for him to bear and he has already missed two dates for his operation at the NICVD. Even a cheaper variety of the valve he needs costs Tk 55,000, while an Oxygenator would cost around Tk 25,000. Besides, there is an Operation Theatre (OT) charge of Tk 5,000 as well as many other essential items required for the operation.
Originally, the operation would have cost him Tk 120,000 altogether, but Speaker Jamiruddin Sarker, who has taken up his cause, requested that the hospital bring down the cost to Tk 50,000. So, the hospital authorities have now told Ali they will perform the operation if he can manage at least Tk 50,000.
But, Ali cannot even afford to pay for Verospiron, which costs Tk 3, three times a day. One of his neighbouring patients is presently providing for that expense.
This is a common scenario in many government hospitals. Patients who can normally be treated in one month often have to stay for six, as they fail to collect the required money for operations and medicine. In this way they not only risk aggravating their diseases but also keep hospital beds occupied -- a dangerous situation given that space is not easily available at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) or other government hospitals. As a result, critical patients are often forced to huddle together in the veranda, which can exacerbate their illnesses while also creating terrible jams.
Md Ferdous Hossain, 48, a homeopath doctor, has kidney stones. He has been lying on Extra Bed 4/B in the Urology Department of DMCH since August. He needs Tk 7,000 for his operation but does not have a single
penny and has already missed two operation schedules.
There are many more like him. And as the capacity of government hospitals' 'social help' sections, funded by contributions from the government and wealthy donors, is very limited, it means poor people cannot expect much help from that side.
DMCH social welfare officials say that the hospital has some 1,700 beds and that most of the patients admitted here are very poor. “Here everybody needs financial help. And we try our best. But those who need major operations and a lot of money are often left in the lurch, because we cannot provide them full support,” one official says.
The conditions of 'social help' chapters in other government hospitals are even poorer compared to that of the DMCH.
In Ali's case, officials of the patient welfare fund of the hospital said they could have borne the OT charge and cost of medicine, which has already been deducted by the hospital authorities. But they can do nothing to help reduce the Tk 50,000 charge asked for the operation.
As with many poor patients, Ali is still awaiting the benefits of free treatment. “I have seen a number of patients with the same problem getting operated and cured and leaving the hospital happily. But I do not know when, if ever, I will be able to leave the hospital cured,” he says.