Health services at the grass roots
Sunday, 23 September 2007
ANYONE visiting public hospitals and the health complexes across the country surely knows it from the first hand experience and would question whether the availability of more doctors in the rural areas is enough to improve the public services. Another question would be whether devising a proper accountability structure should accompany the addition of more doctors and support staff at the rural health complexes and centres.
It is no overstatement to say that the public health care system -- specially in the rural areas -- is not in a satisfactory state. The same is the result of many factors: lack of supervision, poor motivation, corruption, psychology of those who man this sector, lack of investment in pressing areas of need, lack of training, lack of accountability, etc. In these circumstances, it would be the suggestion of anyone with ground level knowledge of the situation not to give so much attention to the quantity factor but to the quality factor for improving public health care.
The move to increase the number of doctors for government services in rural areas is fine. They may be useful to some extent in providing service where complaints are there about insufficient number of doctors to cope with the demand. But is it really the number that matters so much in the rural areas? Any impartial investigation would establish that more than improving the ratio of number of doctors to patients, the main emphasis should be on improving the mentality of the doctors and motivating them for rendering the services properly to the patients who turn up at the public healthcare delivery points, particularly in the rural areas.
Meanwhile, the incentive structure for the young government doctors should also be changed. Those who would put in a considerable number of years in the rural areas at the beginning of their service career should be rewarded in terms of facilities for training at home and abroad as well as promotions.
Thus, policy measures are needed that would motivate and encourage the doctors in public service to serve devotedly the poor patients in their place of postings in the countryside.
Hemayet Hossain
Pallabi, Dhaka
It is no overstatement to say that the public health care system -- specially in the rural areas -- is not in a satisfactory state. The same is the result of many factors: lack of supervision, poor motivation, corruption, psychology of those who man this sector, lack of investment in pressing areas of need, lack of training, lack of accountability, etc. In these circumstances, it would be the suggestion of anyone with ground level knowledge of the situation not to give so much attention to the quantity factor but to the quality factor for improving public health care.
The move to increase the number of doctors for government services in rural areas is fine. They may be useful to some extent in providing service where complaints are there about insufficient number of doctors to cope with the demand. But is it really the number that matters so much in the rural areas? Any impartial investigation would establish that more than improving the ratio of number of doctors to patients, the main emphasis should be on improving the mentality of the doctors and motivating them for rendering the services properly to the patients who turn up at the public healthcare delivery points, particularly in the rural areas.
Meanwhile, the incentive structure for the young government doctors should also be changed. Those who would put in a considerable number of years in the rural areas at the beginning of their service career should be rewarded in terms of facilities for training at home and abroad as well as promotions.
Thus, policy measures are needed that would motivate and encourage the doctors in public service to serve devotedly the poor patients in their place of postings in the countryside.
Hemayet Hossain
Pallabi, Dhaka