Falling sick, falling into poverty

A sobering thought.

A huge number of people are made poor each year in our country because of hospitals.

I think I heard a figure like 4 million a year during the EMFI conference in Ranchi. That figure sounds too high - but whatever the real figure is - the fact is that every year people slip into poverty through their encounter with the money-heavy medical profession.

How does this happen?

A person falls sick. They get rushed to the hospital. The hospital makes them give a deposit for admission. The treatment takes place. The bill comes. It is in the thousands of rupees. The family pays up. In order to pay they liquidate their assets. Or borrow money from money-lenders. Or both. This drives them into poverty. This happens over and over again. The doctor/hospital administrator says that all of this is not their business - they are providing a life saving service.

Driving to the Nav Jeevan Hospital from Ranchi, I was talking to Dr. Arpit Mathew - currently serving as a surgeon at Robert Hospital, Shillong. He told me a chilling story (I may have missed some of the details, but the core of what Arpit told me is here):

A man had been treated from a rural mission hospital. The (heavily discounted) amount that was finally to be paid was Rs. 1500. The family paid up. As he was being discharged he was asked how he got the money.

"From the money lender"

"What will the interest be?"

"1 rupee for every 10 rupees - per month"

"But that is 10% per month! How can you repay this?"

"I cannot"

"What will happen if you do not repay?"

"I will have to work on the field of the money-lender till I repay the amount"

The conversation continued and the man told the doctor that this was a good thing. By working on the field he was guaranteed a meal every day.

How heart-breaking to know that our country still sees not only the worst gut-wrenching poverty - but the willing submission into serfdom (slavery) - because of the desire for the basic necessity of food.

There are no easy answers for these issues - but at least some doctors are trying to make a difference through low-cost effective care. Their heart-breaks are the hope that we have for change in our country.

Thank God for a few who are putting their lives in the gap. May their tribe increase!