Poor diabetic patients need insulin at affordable price

A GOOD number of financially insolvent diabetic patients regularly come to Dhaka from different remote areas for treatment free of cost at hospitals, mainly BIRDEM General Hospital in Shahbagh. Many of them need Tk 1000 to 1500 per month for treatment in the early stage of their disease. But the old patients along with other complexities have to spend monthly up to Tk 8000-10,000 because of using insulin and other costly medicines.
The New Nation recently in a report focused that most of the poor patients are unable to bear higher cost for their treatment. And they are also staying out of getting free insulin, other medicines and treatment. If they spend money for their treatment, it becomes impossible for them to maintain other family expenditures. Presently, their sufferings have increased while prices of insulin and other medicines are increasing.
Officials of the Social Welfare Department of BIRDEM told The New Nation that everyday many patients go to them for subsidies in treatment. President of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh Professor AK Azad Khan said that his organisation annually provides Tk 11 crore worth of insulin to poor patients for free, which is not enough.
Bangladesh is among the countries with the highest number of people with diabetes worldwide. As per official data, there are about 6,90,000 diabetic patients in the country and notable number of them is poor. Diabetes can lead to several disabling and life-threatening complications, including stroke, heart attack, chronic kidney diseases, neuropathy, visual impairment and amputations. In fact, the social and economic impact of diabetes is multifaceted.
Despite government’s community healthcare service, there are still several barriers to public health facilities which force the poor people to pay for healthcare out of pocket, often driving them further into poverty. It’s a chronic disease. Diabetic patients have to take medicine until last breath. What’s very important for them is to get insulin and other medicine at an affordable price. We do also urge the Ministry of Health to take initiatives for the marginal-group patients with providing them insulin and other necessary life-saving drugs free of cost in a regular basis. The solvent and affluent people of the society should come forward to extend their cooperation to the government in this regard.