Healthcare inordinately expensive

WITH public healthcare being sorely inadequate, it is estimated that about 6.4million get poorer due to the excessive cost borne by them for medi-care from the private sector. This was revealed in a discussion by healthcare experts jointly organised by BRAC, ICDDR,B and PPRC. Despite the fact that Bangladesh has made great strides in healthcare where life expectancy in Bangladesh surpasses that of India and Pakistan and a lower mortality rate than either of those countries, the concept of universal health care has not truly taken root. Of the total expenditure that an average patient must pay for getting health services, it is estimated that about 64 per cent goes into paying for expensive healthcare from the profit-oriented private healthcare providers.

While it is desirable to make public health facilities more effective, the concept of social health insurance is yet to be explored. It has become imperative that the government seriously look into “universal health coverage” because the poor are literally being pauperised by spending enormous amounts of money for healthcare. What has become abundantly clear is that the present system is not working and it is highly unlikely that the country will be able to develop a social welfare model that exists in some Scandinavian countries where the health insurance scheme is based on tax money. It is, however, possible to work on poor governance that plagues our public health sector which could pave the way for greater health coverage with the poorer sections of society receiving health service at an affordable price.