Profiting from the coronavirus, expensive calls via the Sarajevo Canton Health Centers' call center

(Patria) - The establishment of a COVID Call Center at the Sarajevo Canton Health Centers is another robbery of citizens. The good intention to facilitate communication with doctors for citizens is overshadowed by the impulses charged by the telecom operator for every minute of conversation. Merima Spahić, a former journalist and activist in the non-governmental sector who has been promoting the Law on Patients' Rights in FBiH for the last 6 years, was among the first to warn about this. She wrote on her Facebook profile that patients and citizens are informing her that "the call centers for helping COVID patients in KS are a continuation of the robbery because every patient call is charged.

- It is sad that the new KS Government has not shown that it is sensitive to the citizens who are already in a severe economic crisis, and instead of helping, they are also charging citizens for calls for health assistance, even though they already pay for health insurance. Citizens, as well as healthcare workers, complain that the information that calls to the call center are charged is being concealed from the public, even though no one could have predicted that a helpline would become a source of profit! - Spahić told Patria.

The Health Centers confirmed to us that the costs of the calls are shared by them as an institution and the citizens. The Health Center did not answer why the entire cost was not covered by the Health Center.

- Simply, it was not possible to secure a toll-free number through BH Telecom. We accept mistakes and will certainly move towards making these calls free for citizens, Ademir Spahić, coordinator of all activities between public health institutions in Sarajevo Canton during the COVID-19 pandemic, told us.

He did not know the price of the call, but he told us that consultations with doctors who answer these numbers can last up to 15 minutes. In practice, this has proven to be a big problem for people who do not have a postpaid mobile phone. On social networks, people complain that they spend a lot of money and the doctor doesn't even answer, because waiting is also charged.

- A large number of patients complain that when they call the center, they immediately lose 5-10 KM and are unable to pay for such a call or continue the conversation because they lose their call credit at lightning speed, Merima Spahić stated.

In the comments on her Facebook post, Selma Gušo Šabanović confirmed this, stating that her husband had his entire credit deducted without reaching a doctor.

It is problematic for citizens that the price of calls to the number 081 920 333 is not displayed anywhere visible.

- I called BH Telecom and was confirmed that it is a commercial line rental. Honest healthcare workers claim that their "hearts are breaking" because of this robbery of patients and wonder how to defend the dignity of their profession in this immense immorality? Many patients do not have the money to call the call center and thus remain alone in their homes, sick, far from the public eye. In addition to the fact that calls are charged, and this is not stated in the call center's advertisement, although it should be, patients simply cannot reach anyone for 3-4 days, which contributes to the worsening and neglect of patients' health conditions. I myself tested whether it is possible to reach the call center, I called all day and can confirm that it is an impossible mission, Merima Spahić stated.

BH Telecom did not respond to Patria's email. Through the customer support service of BH Telecom and M-tel, we learned that the caller pays 20 feninga per minute of conversation. The Health Centers deny the claims that doctors cannot be reached through the call center.

- In 14 days, we had 11,122 calls through the call center, and 8,539 calls through phones in COVID clinics. In the first 14 days of March, a total of 22,487 patients passed through COVID clinics, and 15,442 swabs were taken, Ademir Spahić told us.

Our interlocutor claims that the only intention was to facilitate contact between patients and doctors. For this purpose, he claims, final-year medical students have also been engaged to help with the call center's work. The public perception is somewhat different, and the statements by some media outlets that announced that calls via the call center would be free were also confusing. They could have, but the authorities should have secured funds from the budget to cover the cost. The lack of such a reaction, for Merima Spahić, is an indicator of irresponsibility and disrespect towards citizens who already finance the healthcare sector with their money.

- If the new Government, the Ministry of Health, and the Crisis Staff continue with such practices, I fear that there will be no one left to treat, and someone will have to bear responsibility for inaction, intentional robbery, incompetent measures, and negligence that costs us health and lives, Merima Spahić stated.

From all of the above, the only certainty is that telecom operators profit from the suffering of coronavirus patients, as well as doctors who are overwhelmed with work. Corona for some, brother for others.