Several doctors say misdiagnosis, poor-quality medicine, insufficient health-system funding, economic hardship, and patients’ failure to follow medical advice are among the main causes of incomplete treatment and patient dissatisfaction. Speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, these doctors say limited access to standard laboratories for doctors and clinics has made diagnosis difficult. They add that some private clinics do not allow enough time to properly examine patients, which can lead to misdiagnosis and the wrong choice of treatment.
Mahmoud (pseudonym), an internal medicine specialist, says patient dissatisfaction with treatment stems from several causes. One of the most fundamental, he says, is that illnesses are often diagnosed late, allowing complications to develop and ultimately leaving patients dissatisfied with their treatment.
He says: “One cause is that doctors or clinics lack access to standard laboratories. Unfortunately, some private clinics do not give patients enough time for an examination, so an accurate diagnosis cannot be made. Misdiagnosis then leads to incomplete treatment, which leaves patients dissatisfied. On top of that, the health system faces economic problems and severe budget shortages, making it harder for patients to access standard treatment.”
He adds: “Beyond that, some patients don’t follow their doctor’s recommendations, which also leaves treatment incomplete. So the causes of patient dissatisfaction lie both in the health system and in patients not following medical advice. Because of poor economic conditions, some patients cannot afford all the medicines listed on their prescriptions, which creates further problems in treatment.”
Roya (pseudonym), another doctor, says people’s dissatisfaction with treatment and the lack of results in Afghanistan depends on several factors. The low quality of medicine, she says, is one of the main reasons treatment fails. Most medicine available in Afghanistan’s market is either low quality or expensive, she adds, so many people cannot afford high-quality drugs.
She says: “Other factors include patients not understanding their illness or how to treat it, treatment being interrupted due to economic hardship, and people’s unrealistic expectations of medicine. Some expect a single prescription to work like a miracle cure. Mistaken public beliefs about medicine, the use of Unani treatment, limited diagnostic facilities, and the high cost of diagnostic tests are also factors, since skipping necessary tests can lead to misdiagnosis and, in turn, ineffective treatment.”
Jawid (pseudonym), a patient who has suffered from stomach problems for about three years and remains dissatisfied with doctors’ diagnoses and treatment, says he has seen five specialists so far without improvement.
He says: “I’m 20 years old, and I’ve been to five specialists. None of their treatments worked. Each prescribed a six-month course, but nothing helped. Even my kidneys have started giving me problems. Now I’ve started Unani treatment, and so far it has worked better for me than anything the doctors tried.”
This comes after several patients in Kabul complained last week about the shortage of specialist doctors and the poor quality of medicine. Speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, they said the shortage of specialists and lack of access to high-quality medicine has multiplied patients’ problems.
These patients added that doctors often order numerous tests during visits, some of which, in their view, have nothing to do with their illness.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
تشخیص نادرست و دواهای بیکیفیت؛ چرا بیماران در افغانستان از تداوی نتیجه نمیگیرند؟
