Missing link of healthcare system

FE Team | Published: March 13, 2024 21:35:54

A report on heart, lung and brain diseases carried in this newspaper on Tuesday paints a dismal picture of the health condition of the nation and the medical treatment available in the country. Although the focus of the report is primarily on cardiac problems, it has referred to other fatal diseases in passing to show that on both fronts of health consciousness and specialised healthcare, there is a mindless indifference to these critical issues. Heart, lung and brain diseases together are responsible for 36 per cent of all deaths in the country. Of the 15 major causes of death the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) surveyed, heart attacks accounted for 17.45 per cent of all deaths. This percentage is higher than the 15 per cent combined death toll due to pneumonia, asthma, liver cancer and kidney disease. Let alone those who get many of the diseases genetically but then a large majority invite such diseases because of incorrigibly bad habits and a sheer lack of health consciousness.
So the message is clear that the nation in general leads an imperfect life marked by sedentary, inactive and irregular routines, wrong dietary habit, unsafe foods and in some cases drug abuse. While text books should include lessons on healthy lifestyle with detailed description of the merits of sports and games along with balanced foods, the treatment facilities should also be caring enough and world class available at an affordable cost. Why should Bangladesh nationals be more prone to heart diseases than their counterparts in the West and even India? According to a senior cardiologist at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Bangladesh nationals are likely to experience their first cardiac arrest at the age of 51-52, which is 10 years earlier compared to their US counterparts who may suffer such a heart condition at ages between 60-65. Close neighbours Indians are likely to get it when they are 52-56 years old.
This certainly is unacceptable. People must know how to take care of their physical and mental health. Even then it cannot be enough for some to avoid the diseases under review. In that case, there has to be the right combination of expert healthcare staff in well-equipped facilities. That physicians here are less competent than those in India, destination of most patients, is not true. Where things go wrong is the systemic defect. Mostly governed by commercial mentality, they fail to do justice to their patients. Also the treatment costs of some of the life-threatening diseases here is forbidding. The same profit-mongering mentality of importers of cardiac stents led to an impasse when the authorities intervened in order to bring down the prices of these medical devices used for treatment of heart disease.
Here lies the explanation for a growing number of medical tourists seeking treatment for ill health abroad, India in particular. Patients feel more confident there because they are paid enough attention to the satisfaction of patients and those who accompany them. The other decisive factor is the medical expenses which are reportedly 20-30 per cent less than in Bangladesh. So, a staggering number of 2.5 million patients go to India for medical treatment. Unless the health sector brings the house in order by taking stringent measures against the irregularities and rampant commercialisation of the medical profession, the flow of outbound patients will continue to inflate.