Appalling state of healthcare

Letter May 08, 2019
Who should we complain to? Who is going to stem the rot?

PESHAWAR: Recent happenings show the appalling state of healthcare in Pakistan. Patients, old and young, die because of negligence on the part of physicians and paramedics. Quacks have a field day to make money at the cost of poor patients. People are fraudulently obtaining MBBS degrees and then playing with the lives of the ailing. In the market fake medicines are being sold freely. Even counterfeit insulin is available in the market. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is dabbling in medicine and surgery has become the job of carpenter’s shop. People are buying medical degrees or they are obtaining them through fraudulent means. In the market spurious medicines are being sold without any checks. Even counterfeit insulin, a life-saving medicine, is being sold with no one there to stop this inhuman practice. We aspire to utopia but we are getting dystopia. Fire-fighters are supposed to put out fires, but they are starting fires. It is dystopia when fire-fighters start fires. Most of our politicians are dishonest and unprincipled. Who should we complain to? Who is going to stem the rot? Politicians and all those who matter are only busy getting their pound of flesh.

Fareed Iqbal

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2019.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.