Friday March 31, 2006

Patients want better healthcare

PEOPLE needing medical treatment, especially for the long-term care, have a plea – Please give us better healthcare under the 9MP.

And their list of areas that need attention covers fundamentals such as access, cost, availability of drugs and even basic hygiene.

“Start from the beginning – sanitisation. Every time I use a hospital gown, it has obviously been used by others before.

“And there aren’t any disposal gowns available,” said a cancer patient who wants to be known as Selina.

Kidney patients want the Government to update the ‘prehistoric’ supply of medication in public hospitals.

The 52-year-old businesswoman, receiving treatment breast cancer at a public hospital, feels the 9MP should also address the price of drugs.

According to her, she has had six cycles of chemotherapy, each of which costs RM2,000, and also has to pay a fair bit for scans and blood tests.

“Drugs are terribly expensive. Some are also not available at government hospitals and I have to go elsewhere for them,” said Selina, adding that she had spent some RM20,000 so far.

Kidney patient Wong See Lum, 42, called on the Government to update the “prehistoric” supply of medication in public hospitals.

“Certain drugs that are not available have to be bought else- where, causing me to pay more. If it’s available some place else, why can’t we stock it in our hospitals?” she said.

Secretary Sara Sakinah Abdul Malek, 53, concurs that drug prices can be prohibitive – when her late father was being treated for lung cancer, he needed medication that cost RM300 per tablet, and the total bill over eight months came to RM56,000.

“I had to get the money from relatives. It looks like only the rich can be relieved of their pain,” she said.

She wants a health scheme established in the next five years which will ensure that even the poor have access to affordable healthcare services.

“Provide subsidies under the scheme so that all can benefit from it. Otherwise, our medical bills may just kill us,” she said.

There are others like insurance salesman Mohd Zainal Shamsudin, 48, who rates the management of most government hospitals as “terrible,” citing problems like the long queues.

“It only creates unnecessary anxiety and puts pressure on the patients,” he said.

The colorectal cancer patient believes smaller clinics will serve the people better than large hospitals.

“Set up more district clinics under 9MP. Equip them as you would a hospital. Think of the public’s needs,” he said.

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