VIRUS BLUES: Terminal disease patients struggle for timely treatment

Experts fear more non-COVID-19 fatalities

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: As COVID-19 management takes the centre stage in the healthcare delivery system in Assam, patients of other terminal diseases struggle to receive timely treatment.

While many doctors at private hospitals are allegedly showing reluctance to treat critical patients fearing that the latter might have the virus infection, doctors at government hospitals are pre-occupied with COVID management due to increasing number of positive cases particularly in Guwahati. Some doctors at private hospitals are first demanding COVID negative certificates from patients before starting treatment.

"As maximum resources in the Health sector are diverted towards dealing with the pandemic, patients of other life-threatening ailments have been forced to take the back seat. Only emergency cases are being treated, leaving out many who are in dire need of care. We are also helpless in the present situation," a senior doctor at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) said.

Cancer patients are the worst hit in the present situation. Director of B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) Dr Amal Chandra Kataki told this reporter that even though his institute is providing regular treatment including radio and chemo therapies to indoor patients, the number of patients visiting the Out Patient Department (OPD) has gone down drastically.

"Reduction in the number of patients at OPD is not a healthy sign. The development implies that many cancer patients and those having symptoms of the disease are not coming forward for check up and treatment. This will result late detection of many cancer cases in the coming days. Cancer is a disease which needs early treatment, without which the patient slips into more painful and less treatable stages resulting in deaths," Dr Kataki said.

Another category of patients who have been badly hit by the present situation are those with blood-related disorders such as thalassaemia. Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder that reduces the production of functional hemoglobin. Such patients require regular blood transfusions, generally twice a month. In absence of transfusions, their hemoglobin level starts to fall, which can create long-term damage to major organs including their lungs, kidney and liver. Sources said some thalassaemia patients were discharged from the government hospitals including GMCH even before completion of their treatment to enable doctors and other staffs to focus on COVID management. "Two or three such patients died after they were discharged from hospitals due to their very low hemoglobin count," the source said, adding that children with thalassaemia have been badly hit during the current crisis.

Expressing serious concern over the development a retired government doctor said he is seeing quite a high number of patients with cardiac, neuro, stroke, gastro, diabetic and orthopedic emergencies presenting late with all complications leading to delayed intervention and recovery."If such non-COVID patients are not given treatment in time, the number of deaths of such patients in the days to come," the doctor said.

The doctor has suggested that the State Government should keep a few of the government hospitals like GMCH completely free from COVID management. "Such hospitals should focus on providing effective treatment to patients of other terminal diseases. Otherwise we will have much more non-COVID deaths than those infected by the virus," the doctor said.  

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