Government health establishments in the national capital lack infrastructure and facilities and the private ones are unaffordable.
IT IS A WARM AFTERNOON IN LATE MARCH and chamber number 483 on the Delhi High Court premises is brimming with visitors. Inside, Senior Advocate Ashok Agarwal, seated across the table from this correspondent, is weighing in on the recently announced National Health Policy (NHP). Far from being impressed by the seemingly well-drafted text, Agarwal emphasises the subtext of the policy and calls it “jugglery”.
Explaining why he is not impressed by the policy, Agarwal points out that the government has not made public health a “fundamental right backed by a national law” without which patients, especially the poor for whom access to health services is often uncertain, are relegated to the status of “beggars”. This is because government health establishments are often overcrowded and private ones are unaffordable.
Besides, the policy’s strong dependence on private and non-profit sectors to make up for “gaps” left by government institutions in delivering health care seems unrealistic given the fact that hospitals in the private sector are often unaffordable and their commitment to delivering health care to the poor has been patchy. Agarwal said: “If everyone in this country was a crorepati, then it [dependence on private hospitals and services] would have been fine. But 70 per cent of Indians will not be able to afford it.” In this context, the policy’s stated goal of ensuring “universal access to good-quality health care services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence” seems less than convincing.
PRIVATE SECTOR IN DELHI
Esta historia es de la edición April 14, 2017 de FRONTLINE.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 14, 2017 de FRONTLINE.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
