On Indian Healthcare and US shutdown

       

Dhoom...3

        It was Oct 2 national holiday yet i had to wake  up early morning at 7 a.m to drop a friend at railway station who was going to Howrah.On the  way despite of my repeated warnings my friend disregarded not so good condition of our pulsar 150 and he raised the speed to over 90 km/hr as if performing the stunts in Dhoom 3 just like the lady in the pic.Eventually a strange noise came for a few seconds and bike chain gave away.We were stranded midway to the railway station The  nearest garage was  to open at 7:30 a.m.My friend said "jaane de yaar din hi kharaab hai aaj... Nahi jata hun Kolkata".Just then a phone call came to me informing  that one of our office colleague has fallen sick and was being taken to the nearest doctor at the earliest.We got our bike repaired and left for the clinic straight away.

       The scene at the clinic gave us an idea of the real situation as our colleague was screaming in pain as he was experiencing acute stomach pain.The doctor reached in around half an hour by that time we did whatever we could to calm him down.He was pleading  us to take him to city hospital in bhubhaneshwar which would have taken a minimum 2 hours.It was necessary to bring his pain under control as anything could have happened on the way to city if we directly took him to the city without visiting local doctor in town.In the absence of his parents or relatives it was our responsibility to take decisions.The doctor came and on the first look diagnosed it to be a case of jaundice and told us to conduct an ultrasound test to clear any doubts.

scene of an OPD at Goverment Medical college

         Since it is a small town there is no major hospital where all the facilities could be available under one roof.So if the Doctor's clinic was at X place,the ultrasound center was 5 kms away and in such a serious case the patient had to be taken in an ambulance from one place to another. In the meantime his family members were informed and they were told to reach at the earliest.

      At around 10:30 a.m the ultrasound test got over along with urine and blood test.We immediately made arrangements for him to be taken to city and got him admitted to Appollo (a private hospital) in bhubhaneshwar. As i did not accompany him to the city was informed in the evening that doctors  have admitted him into the ICU and that his lever was damaged.This news was shocking for everyone.

      This is the case which happened in a town but the condition in cities is no different especially for the poorer sections of society who cannot shell out 500 rs for a one time visit to a private hospital.So the only option with them is to visit the Goverment hospital situated in all major cities where minimal fee is charged.The most crowded  area in a Goverment hospital happens to be the OPD (out patient department) where one has to first collect a token based on which the patient is called.This may take anytime between 20 minutes to even 2 hours depending upon the number of patients and the medical staff available.

US under shutdown

       Miles away in AMRIKA an ambitious health policy called "Obamacare" which makes health insurance cheaper and affordable to the US citizens has brought the Goverment in shutdown.It all began when a spending bill was introduced in US parliament and the Ruling Democrats led by Barack Obama and Republicans in opposition disagreed over provisions in a bill with the opposition claiming that bill had anti obamacare amendments.As a result of this deadlock Federal employees who are considered essential will continue working. But employees deemed non-essential -- close to 800,000 -- will be furloughed.This also implies that  famous tourist places,National parks,museums etc would remain closed for 5 days.

             In a developing country like  India health insurance is at a very nascent stage with 2-3 private companies offering such services.Health is often disregarded in india with home made remedies given precedence over visit to a hospital.Owing to superstition and illiteracy  especially in rural areas.many Sadhus, Babas,maulvis alike have exploited this situation and played with the health of local people.Unless and until the Goverment regards Health on par with Defence,Agriculture and Infrastructural spending the Healthcare in India  will remain out of reach of the common man.