We are not only subject to a culling (so to speak) of our ageing population and those in dire need of medical emergencies, but now we may have to face the prospect of dying because some of us may not (nay cannot) afford to pay for life-saving pathology tests (such as those who cannot afford to pay for their children’s needs for instance).

The wonderful blood test that can detect a heart attack in the space of twenty minutes will be useless to the victim if he or she cannot pay for it! We are regressing to the bad old days.

Complacency and taking needed facilities for granted has lead a healthy community, with raised standards, falling quickly and hard into a society that existed before those days when many fought with all their might to achieve the extraordinary improvements and innovations in medicine.

We need to wake up and stand up for our children’s sake at least to retain these great facilities.

We should be proud of the great breakthroughs in medicine and its support mechanisms in this land of plenty. Why should we not progress and stop living in fear?

The politicians ought to realise that health is not a privilege but a right. The medical fraternity must have support mechanisms to function efficiently, and their very existence depends on the availability of funds. It’s time to stop navel-gazing and look at the bigger picture.

Some of those millions of dollars that are touted as being spent on armaments , defence and aid abroad could help. We cannot depend on the over-stressed ambulance brigade reaching far-flung regional areas.

We could bleed to death or die of snake bite by the time most of us could reach Bega hospital. I was told the other day, it will be 2020 before that hospital is anywhere near fully equipped and staffed due to a lack of funds.

How much did the Bega hospital cost one might ask? Well, a little foresight into the operation of it after building it, could have been worthwhile.

I was incensed when I saw the petition “Don’t Kill Bulk Bill” at the Pathology in Merimbula today. “From 1 July 2016 the Government is taking away the fee to bulk bill your pathology tests.” The threat is enormous – “ people may delay or go without important tests; rural collection centres may close; laboratory staff may be reduced or cut back”.

The implications are grave – ‘delayed diagnosis; more hospital time; more avoidable deaths; travel further for tests; longer waits for blood to be taken; “ and worst of all “delayed diagnosis”. We have already experienced the inconvenience of travelling to Bega to reach a Medicare office. Are we now going to travel so far for pathology as well?

Petition forms are obtainable from the collection centres and forwarded to the Federal representative. More information as to how cuts will affect you can be found out atwww.dontkillbulkbill.com. I urge you please, to sign the petition because although the Government has ignored the very real need for having an emergency hospital in Pambula, there have been some occasions where public pressure has stopped similar threats to healthcare. Hope springs eternal.

Come on!

Marghanita Ballantyne

Nethercote