Kolkata, March 10 (IANS) Slamming the draft of the National Health Policy 2015 as "anti-people", a national socio-medical voluntary organisation on Tuesday accused the central government of promoting "privatisation, commercialisation and commodification" of health in India.
Representatives of the Medical Service Centre termed the draft of the policy put up by the health and family welfare ministry as one "assisting the private industry to sustain and thrive".
According to the ministry, however, the policy is designed to provide clarity on the most critical health care issues and immediate policy priorities.
"By giving extraordinary weightage on the private health care sector for ensuring secondary and tertiary care, the government is assisting private industry to sustain and thrive."
"In the first and second National Health Policies of 1983 and 2002, we observed invitation and encouragement to private sector. Now, with this draft policy, the full circle of privatisation, commercialisation and commodification of health will be complete," Bijnan Kumar Bera, general secretary of the organisation said at a media meet here.
Bera said the Centre has declared to grant a maximum allocation of a paltry 2.5 percent of the GDP on the health sector as against the five percent that was laid down in the WHO and UN guidelines for developing countries.
"The government has proposed introducing mandatory health entitlement cards for getting cashless health services from primary and higher care centres but has not explained why it is required."
"In the name of Universal Health Coverage, the government has contemplated to mobilise reimbursement/fund through insurance policies. As if insurance of health is equal to right of health of people, which is not the case at all," he said.
He said the present spending of the government on the health sector is 1.2 percent. In the draft, the government proposes to create a health cess to raise funds to finance health care.
Instead of increasing necessary infrastructure, it has envisaged to depend on private or quasi government hospitals or agencies for fulfilment of people's needs. Health expenditure in budget should get adequate importance, Bera added.
Highlighting a "disconnect" between the union budget provisions and the policy draft, Bera and other medical practitioners observed increase in number of private/government medical and paramedical institutions "will not help resolve deficiency situation unless a realistic approach is taken".
On the Centre's stress on integrating AYUSH (the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) with allopathic medicine, Bera said "proper evaluation, research, utilisation and scientific integration" of AYUSH is needed.
"But unscientific overemphasis on traditions and traditional practices will not help achievement of scientific health, rather encourage superstitious and outdated thoughts and beliefs," he said.
Covid-19: Here’s what Narendra Modi could do to steer India out of the unprecedented economic crisis
कोविद -19 की आर्थिक लागत बहुत बड़ी होने
Swapnil Kusale Gets Grand Welcome at Pune: Shooter Swapnil Kusale, who won the third medal for In
new Delhi. 'Mohammad Shamim digs the graves of the people.' This sentence sounds very cruel, but
The work of removing the cement impasse is going on with the removal of barricades on the Tikri b
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started tightening the legal noose against Congress leaders
Corona cases have started increasing once again in the country. 3712 new infections have been fou
Afghan women lawmakers who escaped the Taliban have opened a new women's parliament to advocate f
Sri Lanka Crisis: World Bank bluntly, no plan to give new financial help to Sri Lanka
The World Bank has said Sri Lanka, which is facing an economic crisis, that it has no plans to fi
Karnataka: CM Yediyurappa gets interim relief from the court, case of 24 acres of government land
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has received relief from the Supreme Court in a corruptio
Corona has become uncontrollable in the country. More than 2 lakhs are getting infected every day
