Bhubaneswar: An US citizen has heaped praise on the Indian healthcare system after being treated at a rural hospital in Odisha and not being charged any money.
Comparing the situation with the healthcare system back home, he said that the same treatment could have cost him thousands of dollars had he fallen sick in the US.
Mike, an international filmmaker, shared his experience of falling ill on the fifth day of his trip in India, while travelling through Odisha.
“American hospitalised in Rural India,” the text overlaying the video clip on Instagram read, as he explained how he fell sick because of overeating.
He showed visuals from inside the rural hospital where he was admitted at the beginning of the video.
“Yup, there I was in some rural government hospital stuck full of needles, unable to even recognise the language on the walls,” he said. “Now you are probably wondering, how did I get here?”
He went on to reveal that he was vomiting every 15 minutes for around 12 hours before he was taken to a nearby hospital. He added some visuals of local food and clarified that his illness was not caused by food poisoning, saying that he had simply overindulged.
“Stop, stop, stop, I can feel you stereotyping from there,” he said. “No, this wasn’t food poisoning; this was overindulgence. The food was so good, I ate too much of it like a dumb a**, and I paid the price,” he said, as reported by News18.
Mike was genuinely surprised when the hospital charged him nothing for the treatment. He had to get not one but two shots in the butt during his treatment, the tourist joked. While saying that he was feeling better, it was the thought of the potential medical bill that made him anxious.
“But as bad as that was, I really winced when I thought about the bill,” he said.
He then went on to compare the healthcare systems in India and America. “Back home in America, an IV bag, anti-nausea medication, and two booty injections could easily cost a couple of thousand dollars! Instead, these damn socialists didn’t charge me one cent! It made me sick,” Mike said.
The tourist’s experience at the rural hospital received widespread praise for the Indian healthcare system, with some pointing out that he got treated at a government-run hospital, while others asked him to take it slow when it comes to indulging in local delicacies.
“It’s free, brother. It will cost you a little bit for medicines, like 2 dollars to 3 dollars maximum,” said a user.
“It’s a moment of pride when a foreigner praises the free health care in Odisha Govt hospitals, where the same treatments cost thousands of dollars, that too after waiting for days long for an appointment,” another user said.