Cost of treatment too high for the poor

WARANGAL: Kodipunjula Janardhan (25) has been suffering from fever since October 3.He was treated at a local hospital for a few days and was then shifted to a private hospital in Warangal for treatment.Because the white blood cells count in his body declined, he was given two units of blood.Yet, his condition did not improve.Doctors then suggested that he be shifted to Hyderabad for better treatment.But Janardhan was admitted to another private hospital in Warangal.His parents have spent about `1.5 lakh on his treatment by selling their two-acre land.Left with no choice, Janardhan’s parents Sammakka and Saraiah have approached district collector Rahul Bojja to show them a way out of the mess.Thousands of people are falling prey to dengue in the district and those belonging to economically weaker sections are even giving up hope of survival owing to the high cost of medical services.While unconfirmed reports say that more than 100 people have died in the last three months due to the disease, there are reports that patients have died while receiving treatment at various hospitals.Officials admit that 147 cases are confirmed to be positive in the district and only one dengue death has occurred according to DM&HO officials, the collector said.Despite the high incidence of viral fevers, hospitals in the district are not fully equipped to provide treatment to the patients, forcing them to approach private hospitals which are fleecing them.Patients from economically weaker sections are even giving up hope of survival as doctors are confirming a few cases as positive, owing to the high price of medical services.With patients complaining about malpractices in private hospitals, laboratories and blood banks, four medical officers have been inspecting these places since October 29 as directed by the collector.The medical officers on inspecting Kakatiya Blood bank found out that about 430 units of blood in September and 360 in October were sold out.They also found that there was no doctor at the blood bank and the blood samples were being sold by the technicians there.At many private hospitals, there is no one to test dengue cases, said Arogyasri coordinator Kumaraswamy and suggested that patients approach only those general medicine hospitals in the Arogyasri network for treatment.He said three private hospitals in the district headquarters had permission to treat viral fever patients and added that he received complaints that these hospitals were not admitting such patients.“We will take action against them at the earliest,” he said.Only 17 of the 130 doctors turned up at a meeting with the district collector to review the situation of viral fevers and dengue in the district.With not even half of them present at the meeting, district collector was furious over their indifference and ordered them to set up medical camps and create awareness among people on sanitation.