Fair healthcare for all — Venkates Rao
JUNE 10 — At times, I think or dream too much that my country must obtain the status of a developed nation before I grow old. But an emphasis on basic requirements like healthcare is much needed which is often forgotten
You could be big, small, rich or poor, but when you lose a loved one, the pain is the same for everyone. Especially knowing that you can’t do your best to save your loved one can be the worst pain in your life. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.
You can say it’s the responsibility of the medical officers /doctors whom you believe in.
But are all the professionals in the country as well equipped?
To share my experience of my grandma who was admitted in a government hospital in the country recently, I have no complaints about the services rendered by all the medical personnel. But what I learnt was specialist doctors who is in charge of every patient admitted does not make their rounds that often and only rely on medical officers (MO) to examine the patient and report to them. Next, instructions are probably given via telephone or face-to-face.
This looks like the operating procedure for our hospitals in the country. It may not be right to blame the specialist doctors since I also witnessed their busy schedule dealing with outpatients as well as surgeries.
Now, where is the fault? Are we still short of specialist doctors in the country?
This situation happened in the Klang Valley and I wonder what the situation will be like in other states and rural areas around the county.
I hope that our beloved government will seriously look into this issue and offer the best and a fair healthcare for all the rakyat.
What is the point of having a great GDP if as a society we are unhealthy and can’t offer the best? I believe we will be able to do better if these basics are taken care of well.
Let’s concentrate on our public health care system and make it stronger so that private hospitals have to work harder to compete, and therefore, we as a society, have access to better services and options.
* Dr Venkates Rao is an intern dentist at Sri Ramachandra Dental College & Hospital, Chennai, India and a former Malaysian student leader in India.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
