Nasima Akhtar, 46, is a victim of the unscrupulous culture of handing out expensive diagnostic tests to patients. Suffering for a long time, the woman went to a private hospital in Fenchuganj, where she spent Tk. 10 thousand for eight tests. She claims that instead of looking at the test results, the doctor gave her a prescription which she followed without any improvement.
Seeking better treatment in Dhaka, she went to BSMMU where the doctor gave her another ten tests, costing Tk. 12000.
The doctor then told her she did not have any major problem.
However, Nasima feels that she still has problems.
Like Nasima, countless patients at hospitals in the city and around the country have to spend huge amount of money for medical tests, which is a massive burden on their resources.
Sometimes, many of the tests are unnecessary.
President of the Health Rights Movement, Professor Dr. Rashid e Mahbub, told Bangla Tribune, “to change this practice, an honest desire is required.”
There was talk of 99 health centres in Dhaka; the primary treatment can be patronized by the government, he suggested.
Unless the whole medical system is brought under a chain, things will not improve, he said and added:
“Health insurance is also important; once that is present, patients will not worry about the payment needed for tests and doctors will limit the number of diagnostic tests.”