Wasim is a 32-year-old father of a 7-year-old girl from rural UP. He is suffering from carcinoma tongue and an apathetic healthcare system. Both diagnoses are equally important. The first one at least has a cure.
Wasim used to sell vegetables to earn a living. 2.5 years ago, he noticed an ulcer in his mouth. He also had a burning sensation in his mouth while eating food. "I thought it was because of acidity," said Wasim. He saw a local informal provider who gave him some treatment, which he took for a month. Once the IMP noticed that the ulcer was growing, he told Wasim to go to a bigger hospital as he suspected it to be cancer.
However, Wasim took six months to go to the hospital. "Educated doctors" would blame Wasim for being careless about his health. But what option did he have? Wasim's father is 72 years old, and his mother is 65. Wasim's wife left him a few years after their marriage. Wasim has to now take care of his daughter, his mother, who also has paralysis and his aging father. Why is it okay to expect Wasim to take care of himself?
Six months later, when he went to the hospital, the doctor did a biopsy and told him he had cancer. The doctor told him he had to get operated to remove the tumor. But Wasim was scared of surgery and the pain it would cause, so he decided to go to an ayurvedic practitioner who convinced him that he would cure the cancer.
Wasim spent a year getting treated there. He had to sell his house and his vegetable cart. He now had a debt of three lakh rupees and no job. Helpless, he came back to the government hospital to seek care. The chart conveniently read, "Patient lost to follow up."
Why do doctors fail to convince their patients that they will take care of their health and do their best for them? Would things have been different if the doctor who advised surgery had explained the need for surgery to Wasim and understood his fears?
Cancer has not only ravaged Wasim's body but also his family's financial stability and emotional well-being. His 72-year-old father, once retired, now toils in manual labor to earn a meager 6000 rupees monthly. "If I have a meal in the morning, I don't have enough money to eat again in the evening," He laments.
Like many other patients, Wasim is forced to rely on private labs for his blood tests, as the in-house lab in one of the largest public hospitals in the country often misplaces samples or provides handwritten reports. In stark contrast, private labs offer printed reports within minutes, albeit for a fee. "It's only 300 rupees," the doctors tell the patients, further adding to their financial burden.
Is the suffering because of the disease comparable with the suffering a patient has to endure to get treatment? There is no doubt that tobacco causes cancer, so why is the government selling it? Why are the companies trying their best to find ways to advertise it, and why are these advertisements not being regulated and controlled? Why are the patients being blamed for their disease?
And once they have the disease, why is a country that has otherwise reached Mars, the Moon, and even the sun unable to treat them? Instead of providing solace, the healthcare system often exacerbates the patient's suffering. Why has kindness become a commodity occasionally available only to those worthy of it in the private sector?
Edited by Christianez Ratna Kiruba
Image by Gayatri
