News & Comment
Healthcare Woes under Capitalism

News:

Tunisia’s health minister has resigned following the death of 11 babies at a maternity hospital in two days.
Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said that he accepted the resignation of Abdul Raouf Cherif who was given the health portfolio late last year in a cabinet reshuffle.

A government official said the minister handed in his resignation to the prime minister at an impromptu meeting on Saturday evening.

The babies died at the state-run Rabta Hospital in the capital Tunis on Friday and Saturday Chahed who made a visit to the hospital late on Saturday said that an investigation had been launched and pledged that those named in the report would be held accountable. (Gulf News 10/03/2019)

Comment

Ina lilahee wa ina ilayhee rajioon! Despite the fact that Allah (swt) is the Giver and Taker of life, we see that negligence or money-motivated work is the hallmark of healthcare in most of the world.

In government hospitals in the Muslim world, one is often faced with scenes that look apocalyptic. Patients can be seen on beds cramped together, no privacy during consultations or treatment, long queues and waiting times that can only add more stress and anxiety to the ill.

For those who are able to afford it, paying for healthcare may result in no end of bills due to tests, multiple consultations and medication whether it is needed or not. Knowing that there is money to be made, some hospitals take full advantage of the ill. In both case patients and hospital staff are left at the mercy of an unfair parallel system, one being no better than the other in the end, where both the patients and staff suffer.

Alongside this is that many healthcare professionals seeking to better their own standard of living may move abroad, knowing that they will never climb the ladder due to corruption and nepotism. A few months ago, the National Council of Tunisian Physicians reported that about 630 doctors had left Tunisia in the first half of 2018, estimating that 900 others were expected to leave in 2019.

The case of the deaths of the newborns in Tunisia may be investigated, more resignations may follow but few will see that hospitals, along with schools and other basic services, in every part of the world are hijacked by the Capitalist system and are no longer providers of care or services as they should be.

When government-run hospitals are strapped for cash, because the government fails in its duty or when private ones are only focused on making cash then how can patients find care and comfort?

An investigation needs to actually be made into the corrupt Capitalist system that does not value life before profits and is the cause of parallel systems that lead to insecurity for everyone, whether you have money or not.

The result of this investigation will show that human life is only valued when Allah (swt) is the sole reference and when the Islamic system of governance, namely the Khilafah (Caliphate) system on the methodology of the Prophethood is implemented. This same system, when it was implemented in the past gave the world the best hospitals and physicians and made advancements in medicine not for profit but for the pleasure of Allah (swt). And so too, upon its return, the Khilafah will provide both health care and reassurance to its citizens as part of its duty of looking after the people’s affairs.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Nazia Rehman