I wish to live, I wish to roar
I wish for some, I wish for more
I got the chance, I got the will
But I struggle when I fall ill
I was stuck with a dilemma so deep
When I discovered my wounded feet
In-depth, in mud, in wallow so deep
I only wish to get back on my feet
And my prior wishes are fading away
I wish to wish for them to come
And then I wish again for some
The tragic news of my close friend’s admission to the All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) hospital was delivered to me. He had been a patient of Lymphangioma for 11 years and when his health declined, a more advanced stage of cancer was diagnosed. Their lower middle-class family had spent a significant portion of their savings and income on costly therapies over the years. They decided to take their son to the AIIMS hospital as a last resort, hoping to avoid incurring considerable extra costs.
There is no denying that medical care is significantly less expensive at government facilities. Most expenditures are minimized, including the money spent on medications. However there is a significant waiting period for the patients to access important services and facilities such as laboratory tests, CT scans, and MRI reports. My friend had to wait two years for the required tests and the knowledge of this delay had me utterly appalled! This is not an exaggeration! I wish that it was. Two years can do anything to a patient waiting for treatment especially if they have a grave illness like cancer, it might narrow the gap between their life and death. I started to question why and how this was happening. Who is accountable? What is the remedy? Constructing more test laboratories? Employing more people?
I believe resolving this issue may not be as easy to implement as it is to discuss. The community is simply too big to be catered to adequately by the services available. Certain conditions may be improved by adjustments made within the medical system such as adding more testing facilities, laboratories, and space along with an increase in staff, but how many resources will it take to bridge the 2-year gap? For a critically ill patient, a wait this long can prove fatal. This may be why everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic standing, is compelled to use the private, pricey, and sometimes quick but dangerous remedies that are available. What other options do we have?
It is high time that we start shifting our focus toward achieving health equity and prioritizing the availability of accessible and dependable healthcare for all.