In a shocking demonstration of the taints in rural healthcare, a man in Bihar had to pull his dead mother’s body on a stretcher from a hospital over several kilometers to get to his home. This very painful event comes to light recently and it shows once again the critical gap of primary services and infrastructures in state hospitals especially the absence of ambulances.
The deceased was said to be living in a nearby village and after his mother’s death he is said to have begged the hospital authorities for transport but his pleas were turned down and thus he was left with no option but to perform this unimaginable act of necessity and sorrow.
Healthcare Crisis: The State of Hospital Infrastructure
This unfortunate incident highlights a serious healthcare problem in the state. The availability of medical assistance is often assured by different government programs, but the actual situation is quite the opposite. In several district and sub-divisional hospitals, the lack of mortuary vans or even cheap ambulance services leaves poor families in a very tough spot.
The man’s act of desperation was an immediate result of the absence of such infrastructure. It was not only a breakdown of service; it was an utter failure in human dignity and compassion. The lack of a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the transfer of dead bodies says a lot about how low the resources are and how little the patients are cared for.
Dignity Denied: A Demand for Accountability
The event has drawn a lot of anger and as a result, there are calls for the state’s health department to take responsibility. The main problem is still people being denied a basic service, which in this case is transportation for the dead body. It is a part of the dignified treatment even in death. The family of the deceased, who were already suffering from the loss, had to go through an additional unpleasant experience.
Such incidents are not rare but happen again and again in poor areas revealing the disconnect between what is promised by the government and what is done on the ground. It is very important that the public hospitals are equipped with proper, working, and easy-to-reach transport services so that similar shameful incidents do not happen again.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
