According to the World Health Organization, six things need to be ensured for a health system to function properly—adequate financing, manpower, medical equipment, data, proper guidelines for service delivery and proper management. In the absence of any one of them, the other cannot function properly.
Everyone knows how little the above conditions exist in Bangladesh. Due to which common people are often victims of lack of treatment and wrong treatment. And a significant number of patients go abroad for better treatment.
While discussing these matters, it may be recalled that on September 10, 1794, a municipal sanitary code similar to that of England was introduced in Calcutta. That was the first institutional initiative in the health sector of Bengal. Almost two hundred years have passed since then. And we are still reeling in the absence of a sustainable health and medical system. I could not build a standard structure in the field of general treatment. In special emergency situations like dengue or corona, it becomes fatal. Advanced treatment is far away, with dying patients being rushed from one hospital to another in the hope of being accommodated.
In the overall situation, it has become a reality that a large part of the patients in Bangladesh go abroad for treatment. For the vast majority of Bangladeshi general patients, treatment abroad means Kolkata. Next destination is Chennai. Some flock to hospitals in Delhi or Mumbai. Many go as far as Kerala in search of more advanced medical facilities.
High class patients prefer to go to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Those who can afford it, move to more developed countries.
But the question is, if you go abroad, can you always get good treatment? Many lost their lives and money due to wrong treatment and medical mafia. Patients run from one doctor to another doctor, from one hospital to another hospital inside and outside the country for cure, relief of suffering. Desperate people turn to alternative medicine or alternative medicine such as Jhar-phuk, Kaviraji. Patients with terminal illnesses are expected to seek specialized treatment after a cancer diagnosis. Because, advanced (high-end) medical services are still insufficient in our country. What has been developed is very expensive.
Therefore, patients of our country often have to go abroad to receive advanced medical treatment. India, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are first in the list of foreign countries. Developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are also on the list of the super rich. The neighboring country India is the biggest destination for Bangladeshi patients going abroad. Apart from high quality medical facilities, this is due to India's land connectivity with Bangladesh. It takes less time to travel from the northern part of Bangladesh to Dhaka than it takes to travel to India. People of India and Bangladesh have many similarities in food, language and culture. As per an average of one year, 2 lakh 21 thousand 751 patients from Bangladesh went to India for treatment. They have spent approximately five thousand crore takas. The flow of Bangladeshi patients to India is increasing every year. This is due to people's lack of confidence in the country's medical services, anarchic conditions, low quality services and high costs.
Bangladeshi patients visit India for complex heart surgery, cancer treatment, organ transplant, infertility treatment, bone and joint surgery, neurology, kidney disease, medical checkup etc. In these cases, there is a danger if the right doctor and the right hospital are not determined. For this, it is necessary to take initiative by knowing the correct information.
Bangladesh is undoubtedly a huge market for India's medical system. Despite earning hundreds of crores of rupees from this market, Indian hospitals are not paying proper attention to the patients and market of Bangladesh. Bangladeshi patients are not being helped properly in terms of providing real information and transparency. Big corporate hospitals are doing unilateral business but they are not thinking of developing a marketing system and increasing information services in Bangladesh for Bangladeshi patients.
In order to do business stably in the long term, Indian hospitals need to focus more on Bangladesh and take various practical and effective steps.
[Dr. Mahfuz Parvez, Professor, Department of Political Science, Chattogram University; Associate Editor, Barta24.com; Executive Director, Chittagong Center for Regional Studies, Bangladesh (CCRSBD)]