India is fast turning into a medical hub, attracting people from the developed world with its low-cost yet superior medical care. But it has been seen that while catering to foreigners, the medical infrastructure of the country becomes inaccessible to locals.
AIIMS recently conducted an internal audit to study the profiles of international patients. It was found that around 1,000 patients came from countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Great Britain and Mexico for surgeries and other procedures every year. The hospital, though, did not maintain any data on the number of such patients who availed OPD services.
The study was conducted by one Dr Neha Jain on the data provided by the hospital. It was found that between January and June, a total of 485 international patients were admitted. Of them, 35% came in for cancer treatment, 24% for neurosurgery, 9% for heart ailments and 1% for other procedures. Altogether 31% of the patients were admitted in the building that houses departments like nephrology, medicine, paediatrics, paediatric surgery and orthopaedics among others. Majority of admissions (56%) were long-term.
"We found several instances where the patients claimed to have been helped by local 'connections' which could not be verified because details mentioned were incorrect," said Dr Shakti Gupta, head of the hospital administration department. He said the hospital authorities were also found to be unaware of the clauses of The Registration of Foreigners Rule, 1946, under which the local authorities have to be intimated about such patients.
"It is possible that touts/brokers are facilitating admission in the name of 'high quality treatment at lowest cost'," Gupta added. The cost of treatment for foreign patients in public sector hospitals like Aiims is 1/100th of their home country. Private hospitals charge about 1/10th of the cost.
A senior doctor said, "Subsidized treatment of foreigners at government-run hospitals puts a lot of strain on our limited resources. It should be allowed only in emergency cases and that too with appropriate documentation. We have hundreds of patients, mostly poor people... who are denied treatment because there is long waiting list in super-specialty departments."
The Gamma Knife Centre at Aiims, which provides surgical treatment for brain disorders, follows the concept of differential costing where the patients from abroad are charged extra. A section of the hospital staff says that a similar policy should be adopted across the centres.
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