Z A M Khairuzzaman :
Presently, the rising cost of living is driving many people into poverty. It is especially the fixed and low-income people who have been hit hard in this situation.
The hardship for these families knows no bound. As the burden of rising prices weighs heavily on their meager incomes, these households continue to struggle. Non-government studies have found a spike in the number of poor people.
Because of rising cost of living amid soaring food and non-food prices, many households are falling into poverty. The relationship between poverty and healthcare accessibility has long been a subject of concern.
Poor people usually die earlier. The mortality rate of people affected by poverty in our country is significantly higher than the average. Usually, most people affected by poverty do not reach the age of 65.
Poverty does not only mean fewer opportunities to participate in society, poverty also means dieing earlier. Illness makes people poor, and poverty makes people ill.
In this country, the poor slide deeper into poverty due to rising medical expenses. Poverty and healthcare are entangled in a vicious cycle—impoverished people find it more difficult to access quality healthcare, and this lack of quality healthcare in turn contributes to more poverty.
In such a dismal situation, a kind-hearted doctor of Dhaka city has appeared to be a blessing from Allah (SWT). He is Professor Dr A T M Aman Ullah, a working urologist, neuro-urologist and laparoscopic surgeon at the Department of Urology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
If anyone visits his private chamber at Popular Diagnostic Centre in Dhaka’s Shantinagar area, he/she will find a notice with a difference. “Feel Free To Tell If You Are Unable To Pay The Consultation Fee.”
If any patient expresses the inability to pay his consultation fee, he does not take any money at all from him/her and provide him/her with free consultation. In this manner, he has devoted his medical career to serving the humanity.
“Helping the Helpless” is the childhood promise of Professor Dr Aman Ullah. And, he is living up to his promise. Every day, a large number of patients visit him to get treatment for their prostate gland and urinary problems.
“I provide the needy patients with a little healthcare support,” he said, adding that none is turned away because of their inability to pay the consultation fee.
Aman Ullah regards medical profession as a means to mitigate the sufferings of humanity. By emulating his example, other doctors can practice their profession in a spirit of service.
He observed that “suffering should be treated not as just pain of the body, but as the cry of a soul, to whom another brother, the doctor should try to relieve him/her of the discomfort.”
Talking about his service, he said, “Man can do everything if he has dedication. And dedication comes from faith.” Salute to this angel-like physician. May Allah (SWT) bless him with a long and prosperous life!
(The writer is a senior journalist and columnist. E-mail: [email protected])