Opinion
Lost faith
Regulators need to act to instill confidence in consumers, especially when it comes to food and healthcareRajan Pradhan
When we buy vegetables, we have to be concerned about the level of residual pesticides in them. A friend of mine was given some freshly harvested cauliflower as a gift when he visited a family friend in Kavre. He stripped the leaves and wanted to feed them to cattle tied nearby. But then the host went mad and snatched those leaves away as he was concerned that the pesticides on it might harm the animal. It is hard to believe that farmers grow products separately for their own consumption using fewer chemicals than for those to be sold. Ironically, the reason for the excess use of chemicals is not ignorance but the desire to earn more.
Resorting to eating fish could be a good choice, but is not always easy in Kathmandu. There is a high chance that the frozen fish we buy contains a high level of formalin, used as a preservative—and there is no means to measure the level of chemicals used. We are left with speculations, and this surely kills our appetite, unless we venture for the limited varieties of live fish available, paying extra premium prices.
All adulterated
For Nepalis living abroad, it used to be customary to take along plenty of pustakari and titaura as gifts when returning from Nepal. With adulteration charges on one of the most popular outlets that used to sell those products, the products themselves have lost their glory. And that applies not only to the afore-mentioned items; buying unadulterated products has indeed become a challenge. An example of consumers having lost faith in the products available in the market is visible in the long queues in front of Sajha-owned gas stations. even when the supply at private outlets is good.
That goes not only for products, even voluntary setups like clubs and neighbourhood committees, whose sole objective should be to serve the
people, quite often are tarnished. Such groups are formed within neighbourhoods to push common agendas. Nevertheless, with time, a few active and influential members start using such platforms for their political careers and vested interests. The neighbourhood where I reside went through a transformation with the widening of a road that happened in no time—the authorities literally bullying their way. People suffered a lot, especially due to mismanagement—the water line was down, accesses were blocked, and the movement of contractors and construction material made the environment dusty and muddy. To lend a voice to the concerns of the neighbourhood, a committee was formed, which in no time started acting like an authority in tandem with the contractors and the municipality, instead of working in cooperation with the home owners. The committee still exists, but merely as a handful of people who quite often use their power to get things done their way.
Bad care
When it comes to health care, we have very little confidence in our system and services. We seek a second and a third opinion, run after every single friend or relative working in the medical field, check on the internet and if we can afford it, even go abroad for ailments that could be treated easily in Nepal.
I went through this myself. One day, when I was feeling feverish I decided to visit a physician, the criteria for my choice merely being the doctor’s good credentials and the hospital she was associated with. Hours of waiting made me restless but gave me a feeling that I had surely opted for a popular doctor. When it was finally my turn, I was told to give blood and urine samples and start taking antibiotics, although she suspected a virus. In panic, my wife consulted with relatives and friends and decided to take me to another doctor. That doctor referred me to a nephrologist, and there indeed, the results of a series of tests indicated I had some kidney-related ailment. However, not convinced, I started researching on the internet and my wife did not refrain from talking to any of our near and dear ones from the medical field, and through them, to several other nephrologists.
Apart from the expertise of the doctors, the infrastructure and management of the healthcare centres and the lacklustre approach from regulators contribute to eroding our confidence in the system. In my case, we were still debating what to do when I had a severe cramp, followed by a complete seizure. I was taken to the emergency with very basic facilities. There was no elevator and being carried upstairs to the first floor on a wheelchair by four attendants was an experience in itself. The building had been constructed for residential purposes. There wasn’t even basic ventilation; the air was stale and smelled bad and visitors were chatting loud without any empathy. The toilets were in a bad shape too.
There are many more little things which needed fine tuning. To decide on a treatment, I needed a kidney biopsy. An agent from the lab came to collect the sample after a few hours. To our surprise, he put it casually in his pocket, without any ice pack or protective case. We asked about the standard operating procedure for sending out samples, and he told us he had been handling it the same way for very long. When the report came in after a week of torturous waiting, I was still wondering if the test sample had even reached the lab in good condition.
Option abroad
Comparing the shortfall in our own country with the professionalism in medical service we get abroad, people often resort to getting treatment abroad. In my case, I finally had a clear diagnosis. However, not yet convinced, we decided to go to India for a second opinion. The experience of getting me checked in at Max Hospital in Sakat, Delhi was totally different. The confidence the doctors showed, the diagnostic tools they used, and above all, the organised service they offered gave us an immense sense of relief, although the diagnosis showed the same result as in Nepal. I had gotten to that hospital in the morning and by evening, all the reports were ready for the doctor to give a final say on my treatment.
Living a life in confusion and dilemma is painful and consumers do not deserve such anxiety, especially when the price they pay for a product or service is not cheap. Our regulators should act in time to straighten this mess. Else, consumers will resort to products and services from abroad, as long as they can afford it, their money consequently leaving our country. Those who cannot afford it will live a life of discontent, which could trigger outbursts in different forms. If truckloads of vegetables in Kalimati can be monitored for residual insecticides and if the monitors can take pains to check products during Dashain, there should also be a way to put in place a system that gives consumers the desired confidence at all times.
Pradhan is general project manager at Tara Management Pvt. Ltd