The Need For A Rights Based Healthcare System

Money from progressive taxation has to be spent on public healthcare facilities if the crisis in healthcare in India and the Northeast is to be averted

- Angshuman Sarma

Last month, I received two personal messages in quick succession that would trouble anyone; one was that of an upcoming actor in Assam who was injured in an accident and now struggles for his life in the ICU of a private hospital in Guwahati. Just a few days before that, I spotted a story online about two female students of NEHU who had donated their organs for their father. The person finally lost the battle but as per a social media post asking for financial help, the hospital authorities are asking for 70 lacs from the daughters and have threatened to stop treatment if the money is not paid. Such messages asking philanthropy from people is becoming frequent in social media. Many of us may be responding to such incidences with our individual morality, by lending a helping hand. But is the crisis a matter of moral fiber? While responding to such crisis with our individual morality, are we actually missing the elephant in the room while looking at its trunk? The larger crisis of the public healthcare system is the story we are missing out on.

Skyrocketing Hospitalization Costs