Som Bahadur Chettri, 52, from Samtse has been admitted in Thimphu hospital for a month now. He is one of the many patients suffering from chronic liver cirrhosis. And it has been all because of drinking alcohol for the last 34 years.
The Thimphu National Referral Hospital is not only seeing increasing number of patients suffering from alcohol related diseases almost every day but the costs treating such patients is also on the rise.
The Director General from the Department of Public Health, Dr. Dorji Wangchuk, said that there is nothing much can be done if one comes to the hospital at last end stage. “The only thing is give supportive treatment and some of the supportive treatment is quite expensive,” he added.
According to 2011 Annual Health Report, the alcohol-related liver diseases in the country have increased from over 1600 cases in 2009, to 1900 cases in 2010.
