Clinics closed in Old City, no docs for other ailments

Hyderabad: With clinics being shut due to the lockdown, people in Old City have no access to medical advice for common illness and are forced to visit costly multispecialty hospitals.

Pregnant women too are suffering because of the lockdown as outpatient services are not available at maternity hospitals.

Though Government General Hospitals or Government Maternity Hospitals are available for consultation, doctors are examining only women, who are in the advanced stage of pregnancy and refusing to conduct routine checks in early st-ages.

Some people are also put off by long queues at government hospitals as the consultation time would end before their turn comes. As a result, they are forced to visit ma-jor private hospitals, whose consultation fee affects them financially.

Mohammed Abdul Akram, a social activist, said earlier people used to visit nearby clinics where doctors would charge typically between '75 and '150. But now, they have to visit specialty hospitals where they must pay at least '300 per consultation.

He requested the government to allow the doctors to open their clinics for the convenience of the common people.