Medical Service: treatment or harassment?

Health care service is a basic human right and the government is responsible for ensuring this service for its people. But Bangladesh is lagging behind in this sector due to corruption and mismanagement. And it is a critical problem in developing and transitional economies where government resources are already scarce. The government and privately run hospitals have earned a reputation for harassing patients who come for treatment of various illnesses. Soon after their arrival at the hospital, they fall prey to cheats and a section of the dishonest hospital staff. The dirty floors and unhygienic atmosphere of the corridors in the public hospitals is enough to make a healthy human being sick. The number of doctors available can hardly provide adequate service to the countless patients who crowd the hospitals. Patients have to make informal payments to obtain drugs which are supposed to be free. Hospital management is indeed very much unprepared to meet the high demand for health care services. Anubhab Chakraborty, Fahmid Khan Md. Tanvir Ahmed, Miadad Rafiq East West University students, Dhaka E-mail: fahmid_k@yahoo.com