KARACHI:
It is a common saying that health is wealth. However, in our country, this wealth is at risk owing to private doctors and fake drugs. Public hospitals do not provide quality treatment compelling people to resort to private doctors. Interestingly, private doctors are also government doctors. They treat patients in government hospitals in the morning and at their private centres in the evening. However, these doctors do not offer the same level of treatment in public hospitals as they do in their private clinics solely motivated by the allure of financial gain.
It is widely known that private doctors, in addition to charging high fees, often prescribe locally manufactured medicines from companies that provide them with financial benefits such as money and foreign trips. What is particularly distressing is that these locally produced medicines jeopardise people’s lives. I’d like to share my personal experience. I schedule monthly check-ups with a private doctor for my diabetic mother. One day, I noticed a pattern during each check-up with the doctor: he consistently changed the medication for the same ailment, prescribing different medicines each time. For instance, he recommended “A” medicine for blood pressure during one visit and switched to “B” medicine for blood pressure in the next appointment.
Both A and B are locally produced medicines. This practice seemed driven solely by the profit private doctors gain from pharmaceutical companies. Surprisingly, neither the government nor the health department appears to be addressing this issue. The absence of checks and balances on medications is concerning. I urge the relevant authorities to take prompt and decisive action against private doctors who prioritise profits over patient well-being and those involved in the sale of counterfeit drugs.
G Akbar Palijo
Larkana
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2024.
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