Click to play videoNew Delhi: Dengue may not be an epidemic yet but our public healthcare system is already crumbling under its pressure with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and other hospitals already running short of blood and beds.
A dengue patient, Mohan Lal says his life has become a nightmare. He was turned away from the Faridabad government hospital as authorities said there wasn't any space because of the dengue rush.
He then went to a private hospital and was charged Rs 7000 for a few basic tests. Not able to afford the treatment there, he's now back to where he started.
“It's very expensive in a private hospital. So I came back here,” says Lal.
Since the deadly viral broke, hospitals across the National Capital Region have been struggling to deal with the onslaught.
What makes the situation worse, is that most of them don't have blood separators, which means all blood samples are sent to National Institute of Communicable Diseases for tests.
There is often a delay in delivery of reports which delays treatment as well. To add to it, there is a perpetual blood shortage too.
“I have stopped all locative surgeries because it is not required. For the dengue cases I have managed all the beds,” says a doctor at the Government Hospital in Faridabad, Dr Neeraja Choudhary.
Officially, dengue has not been declared an epidemic yet but that could be because the numbers are often under quoted.
An average government hospital gets 100-200 dengue suspects every day. Even a mild fever has been cause enough for people to come rushing.
So, while the deadly viral may not just be spiralling out of control, our public healthcare system certainly is.
It is not even being able to respond to basics like testing of samples and ensuring an adequate blood supply.
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