Why Indians shy away from medical treatment?

Yesterday, I took my mom to her cardiologist, who was to examine her medical reports on her urological problems. Oops…why a cardiologist when she has urological troubles? Well, that was the instructions from her urologist! This wasn't her routine visit as, of late, she has developed some urological problems, which led her to believe that she is going to be bed-ridden for the rest of her life. She is 71. But what makes her so disheartened? Not that we can’t afford her ill health; nor are we reluctant to take care of her when she is hospitalized or at home. This makes me think deeply over this issue, which, I think, pesters almost every person in India – if you are sick or have poor health, you are looked down as someone who is untouchable; you are living on the mercy of your near and dear ones, and therefore, falling sick is a crime in this country.

In the same hospital yesterday, I witnessed a strange incident. An old man, must be in his late sixties, sitting next to me on a bench, looked very dejected as I could see wrinkles of some sort of torture on his face. He was talking to a middle-aged lady on reception; I was keenly listening to the conversation. Then the man shifted to me; I could gauge that he was going through mixed emotions of love and hate for his son, who stomped out of the hospital immediately after he was diagnosed as heart patient. Within an hour, doctor took two cardiograms and both showed some damage to his heart. He was not ready to accept that he could ever develop any heart ailment; he was 37.

Now, look at some major differences between the two patients. One is a confirmed old person and another one is socially accepted as young & mature person, though not perfectly young. My mom attended a primary school in a small village and that gentleman must have a bachelor’s degree from a university in Gujarat. He has a 10-year old son, who is a fifth grader in an English medium school. The only striking similarity is that both belong to the middle class families. But both react to their medical conditions as if they were sinners: that young man arrogantly behaved at hospital and my mother quite meekly accepted that she is doing something wrong by getting sick.

I squeezed my nerves a little more and started pondering over this issue in reverse. Our society is equally responsible to make patients believe that they are criminals by falling ill. For example, in our neighbourhood, if an old person is going for a walk or being accompanied to attend any social function, the first question from neighbours is: going to hospital? What the hell! If an aged person is going out, does it always mean s/he is ill and taken to the doctor? Wait; this is not the final chapter of the story. If your destiny doesn't favour you, and if you are actually sick, you will be bent by the burden of advice & tips. All of a sudden, your neighbour will don a hat of consultant and start pouring dos and don’ts to get well soon. I think this must be the reason why we shrink back from disclosing our illness  !

Jokes apart, we need to treat our patients as human beings and not just as liabilities; after all, when they were in fine fettle, they contributed a lot towards their families & society. So it is time to pay back.