A lot is made out of the issue of medicine costing so much in the US. While in Canada, it costs considerably less. Well, let me tell you, overseas, it cost next to nothing.
For this out-door clinic we treated about 1,500 people in less than four days. A lot, by just about any standard. We treated them with medicine purchased from a reputable "in country" provider. Almost 1 ton of pills, no joke! The left overs we left with the local clinic to be disbursed after we left.
Here is the most amazing part though... all of that medicine cost us only $1,800 US. In fact, even with all the travel expenses to get the Dr's over there and purchasing the medicine and supplies, it still cost us less than $5.00 per person to treat them.
Compare that with the last Dr visit I had. $94.00 for 5 minutes time with the Dr. $60 for the medicine, generic, purchased at the local pharmacy. I didn't even have any travel expenses!
I know that there are a lot of differences between the kind of care we gave that day and the kind of care I pay for in the states. Really, though, was it 30 times better?
I'm not much of an activist, but this sort of thing really gets me worked up. For one thing, think of how many people could be helped if we all chipped in to the world health problems. Second, is the care we are getting for so much in the US that much better? Should there be changes?
Ok, so forget about the US for the moment. Think about this... a clinic operating in a place like Midigo, can be fully staffed and operated for as little as $3,000 per month. Bring that number up to about $6,000 and you have a 100 bed hospital with surgical capability. The alternative? 60,000 people with no alternative, but to die.
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