The role of the doctors and nurses working at public hospitals are seriously questionable. Why do many patients visit India or other countries for treatment? The answer is quite easy. People in our country have began to lose their belief in the efficiency of our doctors who seem to be more interested in making money than giving proper services. Losing belief in doctors is similar to losing belief in our police department. A patient who does not have enough money is afraid of visiting a doctor (so called specialists) just like he is afraid of visiting a police station for seeking help. Many doctors are said to have engaged in the trade of the clinics and diagnostic centres. They send their poor patients to these clinics or to the diagnostic centres for necessary or unnecessary tests which cost extra money.

Excessive greed has brought the name of 'butcher' for them. Sometimes we come to know that drugs and apparatus of the public hospitals are sold out illegally. Many patients are deprived of their free medicine everyday. Stunned by an experience I have had during my visit to CMCH, I asked one of my journalist friends why they don't write about the corruption prevailing in the public hospitals. His answer was "those doctors are very united, we, journalists, aren't allowed to enter the hospitals." His answer shocked me seriously.

However, some private clinics provide better service in return of money. But most of the patients don't venture to go to private hospitals. Poor people cannot afford to go to private clinics either.

As regards the diagnostic centres, they claim as much money as possible from the patients for different tests. Having been unaware of the real costs of a particular test, they (patients) have to pay what the diagnostic centre claims.

Many doctors in our country (there are exceptions) receive ransom from diagnostic centres in return for sending patients to those centres. Even the fee of an MBBS doctor in our country is higher than the fee that an expert takes in our neighbouring country, India.

Under such circumstances, shouldn't the government fix the fees of the doctors and charge of the diagnostic centres? The government seems to be satisfied only with imposing taxes on them. But mere taxation without control has made many doctors more desperate than ever. If the health service is not available to all like the education, how can a sick nation prosper?

If the government doesn't take necessary measures to ensure the right of the people, and if the doctors-- who should be conscious of their social responsibilities-- don't pay heed to the voice of their conscience, we don't know what consequences will we bear after five years or so.