Challenges of Ensuring Medical Facilities to Rural Poor People: A Case Study on Boalia Union of Chapainawabganj District in Bangladesh

Abstract

The rural poor people always struggle for their livelihood. When a rural poor person is affected by a chronic disease, he and his  family’s sufferings know no bounds. Spending money for treatment for a long time, the poor family becomes poorer and in some cases it turns into a beggar family. The state, for the sake of its socio-economic development, has to take steps to standardize its  healthcare system which is one of the prerequisites of becoming a welfare state. Though the healthcare system in rural Bangladesh is  gradually improving, still, it is not satisfactory. This research paper tries to go into the depth of the sufferings of those people and to  find out how these crises affect the socio-economic conditions of the country. Through the questionnaire, interview, and observation,  it is attempted to depict the picture of those rural poor families of which, one or another member is affected by the chronic diseases,  how they try to collect money for treatment, what are the difficulties they face in receiving a loan, what are the procedural hazards to  get help from the Social Welfare Departments of the government. It is also attempted to find a way of solving the crisis with the  limited assets of the government. The suggestions include personal or health insurance, provision of granting loan with zero or  minimum interest and taking improvised healthcare systems to union level.