Street health setups hike treatment costs

All micro and neighbourhood hospitals and clinics in urban and rural areas of Rawalpindi also have jacked up treatment costs and the doctor’s fee substantially. These small health setups in almost every nook and corner and urban centres are considered cheap health facilities and they work as a backup in areas where there is no demand for full-sized hospitals.

These health facilities usually charge less than large hospitals and clinics. People belonging to the middle class mostly turn to these setups for medical check-ups and get medicine. After the increase in prices of medicine and treatment costs by these setups, a majority of poor and marginalised segments of the society have now started visiting government hospitals, dispensaries and primary health centres across the garrison city. These local and micro setups have also increased the price of a bottle of cough syrup from Rs30 to Rs90.

Earlier, doctors at these setups mostly in the streets used to charge Rs200 from patients for check-ups and treatment and would provide a green, pink and yellow colour syrup for fever and small infections for minimal charges. Labourers and poor families often visit these street clinics and hospitals when they or their children fell sick and get full treatment for Rs50. This practice also suited young doctors who earned a handsome amount by delivering service in these small street clinics and setups while neighbours get cheap treatment at their doorsteps.

However, now doctors of these street clinics have started charging up to Rs500 per patient, leaving most vulnerable patients in the lurch. Khursheed Akhtar, a local said that “he earns Rs1200 per day. Every second month, a family member catches a cold, cough or seasonal fever. Earlier, doctors used to charge Rs200, but now they have started charging Rs 500”.