Malappuram taluk hospital scripts a hair-raising story

Malappuram: For those who complain that cosmetic treatment is a costly affair, a visit to the government taluk hospital in Malappuram will prove you wrong. The newly-opened cosmetic clinic at the hospital offers hair transplant treatment, which costs nearly Rs 1 lakh in a private hospital, for just Rs 500. Also, it offers modern surgical treatment in dermatology at a lower price point.
The cosmetic clinic, headed by Dr M Prathyusha, started functioning last week. Manjeri native Yusuf was the first patient. He underwent a hair transplantation surgery on Monday and was discharged by evening.
Dr Ajesh Raj, superintendent of the hospital, said that the surgical procedure was done with precision in a sterile environment. "Such surgeries can be done by a dedicated and skilled doctor, people just need to trust government hospitals. Private hospitals make profit out of such procedures," he said. It is first time in state that a government taluk hospital opening a cosmetic clinic and it is the second one in the government sector offering hair transplant surgery, after the medical college hospital in Kottayam.
The hospital, which was affected by the lack of infrastructure facilities, was recently renovated with the support of numerous social service organizations that donated funds and electronic equipment. Dr Prathyusha said the hospital has started all types of dermatology treatment, including surgical options that are offered by high-tech super specialty private hospitals. "We are planning to conduct hair transplant surgery once a week. Other treatments such as Botox procedures, radio frequency (RF) energy treatments will be conducted thrice a week," she said, adding that the hospital has received over 100 applications for hair transplantation for the next two months.
"In normal cases, the cost of hair transplant is Rs 500 and sometimes Rs 700 depending on the nature of the patient's skin and the transplant area. Private hospitals are collecting Rs 70 per hair as they are using robots for surgeries that naturally escalate the treatment cost. As the duration of the surgery is nearly 7 hours, the hospitals also collect a stiff fee for the surgeon," she said.
Private hospitals collects huge amount for the same treatmen as they are using modern technologies including robotic machines for transplantation. They collect fee of Rs 50000 to 60000 for transplanting 2000 hair follicles and also collects additional charge for treatment and surgery. Renowned dermatologist Dr Rafeeq of Rafeeq's Dermatology Research Centre in Kozhikode says that the private hospitals are using modern facilities including surgery equipment and operation theatres for the transplantatoon which causes cost escalation.