Health facilities in Odisha, especially in the remote villages, are in a pathetic state. The imperative today is for people to access health centre. Lakhs of people, especially from far-flung villages, struggle because they do not have access to health centres.
Even those who access these centres have a bitter experience. Our villagers suffer much more than others. There are no ambulances and private vehicles tend to over-charge. And it takes hours before they reach the health centres having to drive over the worst roads.
On reaching the health centre, they don’t find a doctor, which is the case in many hospitals, PHCs, CHCs, etc. Doctors attend only once a week. When the sickness is serious what is the answer from the concerned doctor and the Government? Even if doctors attend to patients their records are maintained in fat registers which are unintelligible.
Doctors don’t usually have the time to go over the reports because they are in a hurry to attend to their private clinics. Another deficiency is that patients don’t get medicines from the hospitals, PHCs, CHCs, etc.
They have to buy them from private drug stores at expensive rates.
There are some tests in Government hospitals which are more expensive than in private hospitals.
Prices of numerous essential drugs have gone up and this hit the common man hard.
As a concerned citizen, I strongly demand from the concerned authorities to revamp the Health Department.
These difficulties can be overcome by better planning, supervision and monitoring by the State Government.
Many patients from the State spend huge amounts in expensive private hospitals outside the State as there is no proper hospital to treat their ailments here and no modern technology for critical operation.
We are still backward in this sector and we cannot keep pace with other States in India.
This has affectedly mostly the poor citizens especially those living from hand to mouth. Who will take care for them?
Who will support their financial needs? Health-based start-ups can handle many problems and connect patients with the health centres in Odisha.
The health sector is undergoing a sea change and smart-phones will shortly replace doctors for more than 87 per cent of health problems.
We are living in a society where you can get a PIZZA within 20 minutes but you cannot get a doctor in four or five hours.
With regard to a study of WHO, India is placed at 112th position among 191 countries of the world.
It is shameful for us to know that Bangladesh is ahead of India.
(The writer, a Bhubaneswar resident, is a freelancer and also a regular contributor to the Letter to Editor column)