Former health and social welfare adviser to the prime minister Professor Syed Modasser Ali said Saturday the existing misunderstanding over wrong treatment by doctors cropped up due to the communication gap between doctors and patients.
"Whatever we hear about the treatment in Bangladesh is a total myth. Our doctors are of international standard and this misunderstanding is created because the doctors cannot communicate properly with the patients," said the noted eye specialist.
Referring to various incidents that happened in recent times over wrong treatment, he suggested the doctors to lessen the present gap with patients and the media.
Prof Ali was speaking as chief guest at the 4th annual national conference of Bangladesh Glaucoma Society (BGS) at a city hotel.
Director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Deen Mohd Noorul Huq was present as the special guest. BGS president Prof Nazrul Islam chaired the conference.
Prof Ali said patients are the friend of doctors and should never be considered as an opponent.
"Patients never do wrong and they are not our rivals. If there is any misunderstanding, the doctors are responsible to ease it," he said.
Referring to various reports by the media, Prof Ali said this type of reporting happens because of the misunderstanding. Doctors must improve their relation with the media and every person. They should also pay more attention and spend time for the patients as the culture is different in Bangladesh to avoid such incidents, he suggested.
Deen Mohd Noorul Huq said it became a major duty for the DGHS to keep the working environment peaceful for doctors as many unwanted incidents were happening everyday.
Regarding the glaucoma situation in Bangladesh, he said glaucoma became a very mysterious disease and the number of glaucoma patients was on the rise in recent times. More specialised doctors for glaucoma treatment should be there, he suggested.
The eminent eye specialist said Bangladeshi doctors would continue to get facilities for training and experience sharing with some of the reputed Indian eye hospitals.
A total of 21 scientific papers on detection of high pressure glaucoma and modern treatment were presented at the conference where about 400 eye and glaucoma doctors took part.
There is no official data on the number of glaucoma patients in Bangladesh. Unofficial data shows 1.8 to 2.2 per cent of the total population of Bangladesh or more than 4.0 million are glaucoma patients. But the number of glaucoma suspects is much higher than this. Glaucoma is considered to be the second major reason for blindness.
Only awareness and early detection would prevent glaucoma related blindness, the experts at the conference said.
