Medicine

Taking care of our health has always been a major concern for most of us. As the economic condition improves, healthcare service becomes increasingly accessible. When the number of private hospitals increases, we don’t have to queue for hours at a public hospital (well, if we can pay for private service). We don’t have to rely on health insurance to cover the cost. And, as some of my friends who had been in other countries remarked, healthcare in Vietnam is really cheap. Therefore, we rarely have to worry that our illness won’t be treated. But with the increasing availability of healthcare service, a new set of problems arises. We can be over-treated, treated incorrectly, or even treated without us having any health problems. Here, I want to dig into these issues and point out the causes, with the hope of providing some points to consider before going to a hospital or a health clinic, taking any drug, or undergoing any treatment. But before I start, there are some points which I want to clarify. First, I don’t want to generalize to all health service providers, all doctors. There are certainly good, humble and prudent doctors. Second, my experience is limited to healthcare service in Vietnam. In developed countries, from what I read in several books, the situation might be better, but some issues still exist or in even worse form than those in Vietnam. Now, let’s go through the causes of what can be called a new “healthcare crisis” one by one. ...