Health risks from sub-standard providers of medical services
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Parveen Haque
Sub-standard medical centres are found to be doing good business in the country. Such centres often exploit the innocence and helplessness of their victims. The latter rush to these centres in desperation from not finding a berth in the overcrowded public hospitals.
There are services which are extremely important for the simple reason that these involve human life. Medical services fall in this category. No compromise can be allowed in running medical centres properly or in maintaining their standards. Therefore, it is shocking to learn that there are medical centres in this country which are functioning without any authorisation from the official health authorities. Such an approval is a basic legal requirement for their very existence.
The authorisation is supposed to ensure that these privately-run clinics, diagnostic centres and hospitals are properly equipped and trained and qualified people are there to treat patients safely and effectively. It is not that authorisation cannot be bought and sold for money in this country. Even then, it provides the assurance of a minimum of standard that can be ensured through some effective monitoring and supervisory arrangements. But the unauthorised ones are not otherwise bound by any regulation or supervision. Given the circumstances prevailing in most spheres of life in this country, such centres are most likely to become death houses than curing places. The unauthorised clinics without proper operating chambers, equipment and well-qualified doctors and staff, are in no position to discharge proper treatment to patients.
A move against illegal and highly risky activities in areas of provision of medical services should, from the standpoint of public health, start in right earnest. Some may contend that such a drive may create a dearth of services for sick people. But probably the sick ones would be better off by not receiving any services from dubious places that offer wrong or improper medical services. They are most likely to get inadequate, ineffective or even wrong treatment in such centres.
As it is, these medical centres are quite adept at making money at the expense of unsuspecting people. Taka 500 may be charged for a pathology test which should fairly cost no more than Taka 50. An operation charge might be Taka 10,000 or much more at such centres, depending on cases. But operations in such centres may be done by an unskilled person in conditions to be hardly considered as safe for the patient.
Like the clinics and diagnostic centres which hardly do justice to their names, the state of medical education and training in large part is found in this country to be no different. There are certain areas where training of professionals must be foolproof. Teaching and training to create such professionals is held to be like a sacred duty. There cannot be any room for concessions, compromise or acceptance of poor quality in this particular area. Medical training is, indeed, a vital area because those who are trained to be doctors are entrusted to discharge duties that relate directly to the life and physical well-being of humans
The number of privately-run medical colleges in the country is 35. And many more are still coming up. But some already set-up medical colleges are reportedly medical colleges in name only.
Viewed in this backdrop, there must be certain criteria to be met, prior to getting official approval to run any medical college. Though criteria are reported to be in existence in one form or other, these are hardly fulfilled while giving approval to them on political consideration and influence-peddling. Only a few satisfied the requirements or infrastructures needed to qualify as higher centres of learning in the medical field. Most of them do not even have a hospital within or near the campus. But this requirement is an indispensable one for laying a claim as a medical college.
Doctors with high qualifications and experience who can be relied on to impart proper medical training or to teach successfully at that level, are non-existent in an adequate manner in these colleges. Facilities for practical classes on anatomy that require morgues, dissection units and other related paraphernalia, are also not to be found in many of such so-called medical colleges. Laboratory facilities for learning in pathology and related areas are similarly non-existent or exist in inadequate forms. Libraries are the main possessions of these medical colleges in most cases. But the libraries are also not so resourceful like the ones at the publicly run medical colleges.
The greatest inadequacy seems to be in the area of practical training. In the publicly-operated medical colleges, the attached hospital proves to be a ready training ground and for acquiring practical knowledge of the illnesses and procedures for their treatment. Lacking in this vital area, many private medical colleges can hardly provide this invaluable experience and training to their students.
There cannot be any playing around with human lives and only thoroughly trained professionals in the field are expected to attend to patients. Thus, one shudders to think how dangerous persons are being created to pose as doctors when they are actually ill equipped in every sense to treat sick people.
Private medical colleges, which are seriously lacking in standards, should be immediately asked to go for improving their standards, fully, in every respect. They may be given deadlines to meet.
Sub-standard medical centres are found to be doing good business in the country. Such centres often exploit the innocence and helplessness of their victims. The latter rush to these centres in desperation from not finding a berth in the overcrowded public hospitals.
There are services which are extremely important for the simple reason that these involve human life. Medical services fall in this category. No compromise can be allowed in running medical centres properly or in maintaining their standards. Therefore, it is shocking to learn that there are medical centres in this country which are functioning without any authorisation from the official health authorities. Such an approval is a basic legal requirement for their very existence.
The authorisation is supposed to ensure that these privately-run clinics, diagnostic centres and hospitals are properly equipped and trained and qualified people are there to treat patients safely and effectively. It is not that authorisation cannot be bought and sold for money in this country. Even then, it provides the assurance of a minimum of standard that can be ensured through some effective monitoring and supervisory arrangements. But the unauthorised ones are not otherwise bound by any regulation or supervision. Given the circumstances prevailing in most spheres of life in this country, such centres are most likely to become death houses than curing places. The unauthorised clinics without proper operating chambers, equipment and well-qualified doctors and staff, are in no position to discharge proper treatment to patients.
A move against illegal and highly risky activities in areas of provision of medical services should, from the standpoint of public health, start in right earnest. Some may contend that such a drive may create a dearth of services for sick people. But probably the sick ones would be better off by not receiving any services from dubious places that offer wrong or improper medical services. They are most likely to get inadequate, ineffective or even wrong treatment in such centres.
As it is, these medical centres are quite adept at making money at the expense of unsuspecting people. Taka 500 may be charged for a pathology test which should fairly cost no more than Taka 50. An operation charge might be Taka 10,000 or much more at such centres, depending on cases. But operations in such centres may be done by an unskilled person in conditions to be hardly considered as safe for the patient.
Like the clinics and diagnostic centres which hardly do justice to their names, the state of medical education and training in large part is found in this country to be no different. There are certain areas where training of professionals must be foolproof. Teaching and training to create such professionals is held to be like a sacred duty. There cannot be any room for concessions, compromise or acceptance of poor quality in this particular area. Medical training is, indeed, a vital area because those who are trained to be doctors are entrusted to discharge duties that relate directly to the life and physical well-being of humans
The number of privately-run medical colleges in the country is 35. And many more are still coming up. But some already set-up medical colleges are reportedly medical colleges in name only.
Viewed in this backdrop, there must be certain criteria to be met, prior to getting official approval to run any medical college. Though criteria are reported to be in existence in one form or other, these are hardly fulfilled while giving approval to them on political consideration and influence-peddling. Only a few satisfied the requirements or infrastructures needed to qualify as higher centres of learning in the medical field. Most of them do not even have a hospital within or near the campus. But this requirement is an indispensable one for laying a claim as a medical college.
Doctors with high qualifications and experience who can be relied on to impart proper medical training or to teach successfully at that level, are non-existent in an adequate manner in these colleges. Facilities for practical classes on anatomy that require morgues, dissection units and other related paraphernalia, are also not to be found in many of such so-called medical colleges. Laboratory facilities for learning in pathology and related areas are similarly non-existent or exist in inadequate forms. Libraries are the main possessions of these medical colleges in most cases. But the libraries are also not so resourceful like the ones at the publicly run medical colleges.
The greatest inadequacy seems to be in the area of practical training. In the publicly-operated medical colleges, the attached hospital proves to be a ready training ground and for acquiring practical knowledge of the illnesses and procedures for their treatment. Lacking in this vital area, many private medical colleges can hardly provide this invaluable experience and training to their students.
There cannot be any playing around with human lives and only thoroughly trained professionals in the field are expected to attend to patients. Thus, one shudders to think how dangerous persons are being created to pose as doctors when they are actually ill equipped in every sense to treat sick people.
Private medical colleges, which are seriously lacking in standards, should be immediately asked to go for improving their standards, fully, in every respect. They may be given deadlines to meet.