Readers’ Forum

Make healthcare affordable for all

I do not know exactly how many countries in the world allow doctors who work for public hospitals to have their private practices. In Bangladesh, there are currently no laws that prohibit this. As private practice is more lucrative, many doctors ignore their responsibilities at public hospitals.
What is frustrating is that they charge patients exorbitant fees at their private clinics. People from lower income groups cannot afford to pay such fees. The government can introduce laws limiting specialist doctors from charging such high fees.
Pushpan Chowdhury
Chittagong

Bus service between three neighbours

It is good news that a bus will run between the three countries of Bangladesh, India and Nepal. A trial run was done recently when a bus started from Dhaka and went to Siliguri in India and then to Kathmandu in Nepal carrying 45 delegates from these countries.
The distance between Dhaka and Kathmandu is not very long and it does not take much time to get from one place to another by road.
Since there are no buses running currently from Dhaka to Kathmandu, Bangladeshis (also Nepalese) need to travel by air which can be quite costly. Once the planned bus service is fully functional, it should substantially reduce the travelling cost for citizens of all three countries, especially those who travel frequently.
I hope the authorities will launch this service as soon as possible once the vetting phase is complete.

M Soman
DU