Medical care when we were Third World

We are in the First World with an equally advanced medical care industry to match. We have the best medical professionals and the best medical facilities to take care of the sick. We could even extend lives by the quality of our medical professionals.

How far we have come from the days when we were in the Third World, when our medical services and facilities were a far cry from what we have today. But are we better off today than when we were in the past? I will just relate some personal experience to highlight the great differences between then and now for comparison.

In the 50s and 60s, medical care for the citizens was as good as free. Though they were not of the same quality as what we have today, there were good relative to the countries in the region and around the world. I was fortunate to be the recipient of generous dental care provided by the Institute of Health and without having to pay a cent for it, for fillings, extractions and dentures. Every week without failed, a gleaming coach would arrive at the primary school to fetch all the little children who needed dental treatment. A nurse would go from class to class to round up the children and bring them safely to the Institute of Health, not even have to pay for transportation. And the dental surgeons would be there waiting for us, to serve us.

The dental surgeons would plan our next appointments according to our dental needs, at their own initiative, happily without the children paying a cent. If they did not bother, none of the children would bother with the condition of their teeth and would not step near a dental clinic. The govt were the caring parents to the children, meticulously pandering to their dental needs with no concern about cost, about whether the children could afford to pay for them. The govt paid for everything. They did not plan for a long series of treatments for a syndicate to prowl on the poor patients like vultures on a wounded and hapless prey.

The people took care of their small illnesses and cough and colds. The public hospitals provided free medical services as well. Unbelieveable! For those who could afford to pay $15 or $20, a medical doctor would be on call and would drive himself to the homes of the sick, making house calls. If no injection is needed, the medical fee could be lesser, with medicine included.

The people were not underpaying the medical doctors then. With the $15 or $20 collected per patient, to cover medicine, consultation and transportation, the doctors still could live very well. Practically every one of them could afford to live in landed properties and making home visits in their Mercedes Benzes.

When my missus was conceiving our first child, I was then a young officer in the Air Force, I was entitled to A Class Ward in govt hospitals. And for pre natal consultations we had the services of the top gynaecologist in Senior Consultant Christopher Chen, plus delivery. And you would not believe this, everything was free then. I did not have to pay a cent for the regular monthly consultations and delivery of the baby, including meals in the hospitals.

And there was no need to make appointments months or years in advance. There were enough doctors and specialists for everyone. That was the kind of medical services we had then, when we were Third World. No need to buy medical insurance, no need to have medisave account, no need to have Medishield Life, no need to go bankrupt because of medical bills.

I am grateful to the kind of medical benefits that citizens enjoyed then, even as a junior officer in a ministry. Could not have asked for more, could not expect a more caring govt. There was no worry about medical care and affordability and no fear of falling sick. There was no mean testing. There was no one year or two year appointments in govt hospitals. The hospitals were there to serve the people, to make sure the people were healthy, the children were delivered at no cost or little cost for private patients to their happy parents. Come to think of it, those were the good old days, now gone forever.

Are we better off today?