From doctor to doctor
Riyatullah Farooqui
The writer is a senior journalist.
In the old days, there were very few doctors. So there were very few sick people. Seasonal fevers and colds were common illnesses. The majority of critically ill patients were those hospitalized due to truck or bus collisions. Back then, public transport was scarce and highways in cities were two-way and narrow.
Then came Nawaz Sharif’s government and it saved the nation from further disability by expanding the highways. Thus, Pakistan entered a new era in the 21st century with extended roads. In the 20th century, doctors were very dishonest. They prescribed such medicine so that the patient could not recover in the first phase.
We now stand in the 21st century, where that twentieth-century doctor has expired. And it has been replaced by a new era doctor. As strange as the doctor is, he has brought strange diseases with him. His clinic wall is made of glass and also has an air conditioner. There is a counter outside, and a young lady at the reception.
In the past, only a doctor’s fee had to be paid, which was maximum fifty rupees. Now we also have to bear the cost of the windows of the doctor’s clinic. The AC bill is also our responsibility.
That doctor, who charged fifty rupees, was so elegant that if we became sad he would say, “It’s only a mild fever and you will be recovered in two days.” And if you visit today’s doctor with a smiling face, it right away says, “I don’t think you’re taking your illness seriously!”
And if we say, “Why should I get serious, it’s only a mild fever.” Then the doctor says, “No! I think it’s something else. Take this slip, and get tested and bring the reports only then the situation will be clear.” The man, who recently entered the clinic with very confident steps, goes to get tested while reciting Ayat-ul-Kursi.
Thus the 21st-century doctor receives commissions from both the Lab and the pharmaceutical company. The tragedy is those who dropped out of medical education are selling the 2000 cloth for Rs 4,400. And the doctors are doing the same by looting people with the help of laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. In such cases, there is only one doctor who can be trusted, who will not be an agent of a pharmaceutical company or a lab, but he cannot treat – Ph.D. Doctor.