Hospital bills are mostly on the higher side today, and with the increasing number of private healthcare centres, the situation for the common man will only worsen, cautions well-known cardiologist and former Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University B. M. Hegde.
In the city last week to attend a programme on Innovations and Ethics in Health Sector , organised by Centre for Innovations in Public System at Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Dr. Hegde spoke to YUNUS Y. LASANIA about the current scenario in the health sector.
You censured the western healthcare system during your talk. Why so?
Their health care is the leading cause of death. Take antibiotics for example. They are very dangerous, because when taken for treatment in excess, the body becomes resistant.
So what is the alternative then? If I have fever, what treatment do I take?
If you take a tablet to cure fever, it will bring down the temperature of your body, going against the natural course of cure. Most fevers – except malaria and a few others – are self-limiting, and after some time they recede. If you take rest and drink lot of fluids, the disease will disappear.
However, what happens today is the exact opposite of what you say. Why do you think are doctors not inclined towards helping people?
If hospitals and doctors become altruistic then their incomes will fall. The situation will improve if State-run hospitals are developed and maintained properly, so that it can be cheaper.
Can medical costs be low? Can you give an example?
Take stents used for heart operations: they cost around $150 in the United States, and if you cross waters from there and reach Cuba, it costs only five Pesos, equalling to few hundred rupees.
In the city last week to attend a programme on Innovations and Ethics in Health Sector, organised by Centre for Innovations in Public System at Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Dr. Hegde spoke to YUNUS Y. LASANIA about the current scenario in the health sector.
You censured the western healthcare system during your talk. Why so?
Their health care is the leading cause of death. Take antibiotics for example. They are very dangerous, because when taken for treatment in excess, the body becomes resistant.
So what is the alternative then? If I have fever, what treatment do I take?
If you take a tablet to cure fever, it will bring down the temperature of your body, going against the natural course of cure. Most fevers – except malaria and a few others – are self-limiting, and after some time they recede. If you take rest and drink lot of fluids, the disease will disappear.
However, what happens today is the exact opposite of what you say. Why do you think are doctors not inclined towards helping people?
If hospitals and doctors become altruistic then their incomes will fall. The situation will improve if State-run hospitals are developed and maintained properly, so that it can be cheaper.
Can medical costs be low? Can you give an example?
Take stents used for heart operations: they cost around $150 in the United States, and if you cross waters from there and reach Cuba, it costs only five Pesos, equalling to few hundred rupees.
hyderabaddesk@thehindu.co.in
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