X. Keeping the System Alive: The Dilemma of Being a BenefactorAs shown above benefactors in the form of private individuals, churches or organizations sometimes paid off the debts of patients so they could go home. The number of benefactors has risen in the last few years, according to statistics and observations by hospital staff. At Prince Régent Charles Hospital, the figure has more than quadrupled between 2004 and 2005, as mentioned above. Like similar interventions by the government, freeing individuals renders them immediate assistance but provides no permanent solution to the problem of hospital shortfalls. Such acts of generosity may have even encouraged the practice by in effect rewarding hospitals that detained people. In at least one facility, the Roi Khaled hospital, the presidential directive on maternal and child health has led to a decline in the number of benefactors, presumably because they believe private charity is no longer so necessary.208 It is too soon to say whether the recent decrease in one institution will continue and will be replicated in other hospitals. 208 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with financial and administative director, Roi Khaled Hospital, June 20, 2006. |