Scrutinize Lilongwe's legal clinics too

I would like to commend the Medical Council of Malawi for closing down 44 illegal clinics as reported in July by the Daily Times newspaper. I would also like to commend Police and others in Blantyre for cracking down on two bogus doctors at referral facility Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital since October 2014.

 This is commendable and should be extended to other parts of the country. These officials have saved so many residents of Blantyre from danger and from the fear of being overdosed, wrongly or improperly treated.However, another area that has to be checked as far as medical services is concerned are private clinics and hospitals. 

Lilongwe has a numbers of legal private clinics, general clinics, specialists’ clinics and general private hospitals. Some of these expensive or high-paying hospitals and clinics have not done much justice to their clients in recent years. 

In Lilongwe, my experience is few medical centers show how they come up with the bills and if you insist on inquiring about the specific costs, the accountant gets upset!  For fear of being treated terribly when they fall sick again, patients keep quite. Besides, most Malawians are yet to cultivate the culture of inquiring. And, left unchecked this is how medical schemes are becoming cash cows for some unscrupulous cashiers and accountants.

Additionally, most doctors and clinicians at private clinics do not tell you what they are treating you for save for handing you a little bag of medications. Patients have the right to know what they are being tested and treated for. Details of patient’s rights should be pasted on hospital and clinic walls as  is the case in public hospitals.

My plea to these clinics is that they should not attempt to dispose off as much medicines on one patient at one visit, precious life is at stake when things are done this way, as medics you know this all too well. As for the authorities, please act swiftly to reverse the dwindling health standards in our beautiful country. 

That said I would like to congratulate the Adventist Hospital in Lilongwe for being open as far as bills are concerned and gratitude should also go to Deyang Like Hospital in Kanengo for both openness in bills and such warm friendly and thorough specialist care given every time you visit. Deyang Luke Hospital in my view is greatly assisting the government to manage the enormous disease burden in Lilongwe and surrounding areas and should be supported in as many ways by the government including constructing a proper road to the hospital. As things have turned out in the news media more fake medics are still hiding in public clinics and hospitals. We are looking forward to more continued government action on these.