I am perfectly healthy, America

This may come as news to some of you, but I am heading to Antarctica with my girlfriend for six months in October. We will be measuring plankton levels in the ocean to track global warming. It should be an adventure!

In order to qualify, I have to prove to the National Science Foundation that I am in perfect health and they do not have to worry about me developing cancer, having a molar erupt, or any other possible medical problem that would necessitate an expensive emergency trip to Chile for treatment. I understand this precaution, but Indians here do not.

“I heard you were admitted (in the district hospital) in Ahmednagar. Are you okay?” asks a neighbor when I return home. No, I tell them, I wasn’t admitted. I am absolutely fine. I had to go do blood tests, check my heart, and have dental x-rays to prove that I am absolutely healthy.

I receive an unknowing nod, followed by silence, and then the conversation changes.

It’s an odd concept around here to spend a lot of money and take two days off to travel to distant hospitals to prove that I am healthy. Why spend the money? It definitely sounds silly when there are tons of people around here who need tests to figure out why they are sick, not to prove that they are healthy! The cost of my Hepatitis B and C and Iron level blood tests is equal to the costs of an artificial limb. I paid the money (60 bucks), no problem. Yet the man without a leg in the outpatient the other day had to wait for a phone call from a generous donor before he could have his leg.

It’s definitely odd to pay a lot of money for what can be seen as superfluous tests in a country where so many can’t afford access.

Which brings me to a firm understanding of an idea of Paul Farmer’s: there is definitely a “differential valuation of human life” at play here. My life is clearly “worth” a lot more than most Indian’s, and so the U.S. government will spend money preemptively to ensure that they don’t send a possibly expensive unhealthy person to Antarctica yet no resources exist for actually, acutely ill people here in India.

I understand why – I come from a rich nation and the National Science Foundation has to take care of me while I am there – yet to see the difference so starkly, and to see the confusion on my neighbors’ faces so clearly, gives me much food for thought.

On a different yet related note, the cost of the tests I underwent blow my mind. Before traveling to Ahmednagar I took out $250 from the ATM to hopefully cover the majority of my costs. Little did I understand how cheap Indian medical services are. Here is a list of the costs of everything:

PPD TB test: 1 dollar.

Influenza vaccine: 20 dollars

12 lead EKG: 3 dollars

15 minute consult with the doctor: 5 dollars

10 minute consult with the dentist: 3 dollars

Dental x-rays, including a panorama of my teeth: free in the dental college

Hep B/C and Iron tests (5 total): 60 dollars.

Total: 92 dollars.

I have no idea how much it would be in America, but I know it would be at least 10 times more.

A consult with a doctor in a city: 5 dollars. A consult with Dr. Shobha here in rural Jamkhed: 50 cents for the rich, 20 for the middle class, 10 cents for the poor, and free for the very poor. FIFTY CENTS! Are you kidding me!

A day in the Intensive Care Unit in America is estimated to cost $4,000. Here it starts at 3 dollars for the bed and may rise to 10-15 for the care.

What a different world.