'Chronic disease ailment period widens'
The preliminary report on Household Income and Expenditure Survey-2010 yesterday revealed that the duration of ailment of chronic diseases has been increased to almost seven years or 81.38 months from 78.92 months in 2005.
The survey report, launched by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics at Sonargaon Hotel in city, also shows males suffer longer (86.13 months) than the females (77.32 months) on average.
The longest duration of ailment for both sexes has been found in the case of epilepsy, leprosy, and respiratory diseases ranging from nearly 9 to 13 years.
The lowest average duration of ailment is observed in the case of chronic fever preceded by cancer and chronic dysentery. The duration of suffering from paralysis, cancer, and diabetes is also prominent among the male.
The average duration of chronic diseases, however, is higher in urban area than in rural area, found the Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
The survey also revealed that the highest proportion of patients have received treatment from drug stores or from the medicine sellers, which stands at 29.74 percent.
Terming the consultation tendency as a health hazard, health experts said the medicine sellers actually provide symptomatic treatment, and it is not based on diagnosis.
"It increases wrong treatment too, which is indeed a social problem," said Prof Rashid E Mahbub, former president of Bangladesh Medical Association.
Severe crisis of doctors accompanied by poverty leads patients, who cannot afford seeing doctors, to consult the medicine sellers for treatment, he said.
Prof Rashid also said the reason behind prolonged suffering from epilepsy and leprosy is lifestyle and lack of awareness.
As these are diseases neglected globally and the poor mainly suffer from these diseases, the patients often have to suffer for a long time, the experts said.
Different respiratory diseases that include chronic bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstetric pulmonary diseases are also prolonged, they said, adding that chronic obstetric pulmonary diseases stands fourth among the chronic illness and disease duration globally.
"In Bangladesh one in every five people aged above 40 is attacked by chronic obstetric pulmonary diseases," said Prof Rashedul Hasan of the National Institute of Diseases of Chest and Hospital.
Blaming air pollution as one of the main causes, he said currently one crore people have been suffering from asthma in the country, which needs long-term treatment.
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