Editorial

Carrying the Dead Weight: Our Public Health System and its Diseases

By Siddharth Sehgal

Let me tell you a story which I overheard while waiting for my prescription order to be completed at a pharmacy in my hometown of Gwalior.  These two gentlemen at some distance were actually owners of other pharmacy shops nearby. The one who was narrating the story told about a young poor girl, she was sick and required some kind of procedure, the girl’s father was a poor farmer who was in no position to afford the expenses. The poor fellow knocked all doors until he came to the doctor of whom this gentleman at pharmacy was speaking of.

 This doctor not only bore all the cost of the operation but also gave some money to the girl’s father so that the girl may go to school after regaining her health. After few months had passed this doctor found the girl and her father waiting for him at his dispensary. She had a small bag filled with peanuts which she cheerfully gave to the doctor. Her father told the puzzled man that after recovering, the girl worked in a field and from whatever money she could make from her small efforts. She bought a bag of peanuts for the man who saved her life.  The point, the narrator of this story was trying to make was that there are still such doctors out there whose work reflect what medicine as a science and profession stands for but the pictures of a man in Orissa carrying his dead wife because he didn’t had money for ambulance shook that faith and as soon as this story came out other similar horrendous tales of system’s neglect, greed and carelessness came out, though media is cashing in on story now but to Indian public it’s a secret we already know. Government hospitals have big holes in their protective cover but for about 66% of people in India that’s all they have.

 Corruption like every government entity has our plagued public health for long but one feature is very striking perhaps more than any government organ, the hindi phrase “sab apni marzi ke malik hain” (everyone is master of his own whims) perfectly applies here.  Just consider the fact that there are no lawsuits filed for medical malpractice, oversight is little, no one asks questions if medicine and bandages are there, if yes that’s fine, if not than it’s somebody’s misfortune, add to this mix underpaid and understaffed clinics with overwhelming number of patients. I am not saying that all govt. hospitals are ill run or all doctors are trying to milk someone else’s misery, no,  that’d be unjust to those who are trying to make a difference  but the system by and large needs radical reform. Since majority of patients who visit government healthcare providers cannot pay huge or literally no medical bills, the empathy is replaced by frown.

For all the sad stories out there, I still believe medical profession as a whole and I am including doctors, nurses, therapists, ambulance drivers and everyone in this line of work, directly touches the people’s lives, it affects people in a positive way towards a better health and it’s for this noblest  purpose that they should see a human in a patient.

2 Comments

  1. Ills facing our Public Health System at our finger tips-well brought out by Siddharth!

    Kudos to doctors who want to make a difference by really caring for the patients! With medical advancements, new diseases too come to the fore throwing a challenge to the medical fraternity.
    Lack of patients’ awareness on their rights contributes to large scale malpractices that go unpunished.
    Mismanaged and non- transparent hospitals allow the unscrupulous elements in the system to encash the misery of patients to their advantage.
    Enhancing the trust and faith of patients in the system is the first priority for the administration to concentrate on so as to come out of the ruts and bring in its wake the much needed HUMANISM!

  2. kudos to your points you brought in this article. where do you live and would like to interview at one of my offices in new york if you are interested in joining our team.