Urban Mirror

Urban Mirror Correspondent

New Delhi, June 13: The Lok Gathbandhan Party (LGP) today condemned the central government for failing to provide proper health services to the people in the country. The LGP said government’s utter neglect of medical services and rush for privatization of health sector has pushed vast majority of the people to poverty line because of the spending on medicines.

 

The spokesman of the party said here on Wednesday that a recent study on healthcare has badly exposed the tall claims being made by the central government on health sector. The spokesman said the report indicating that 55 million people were pushed into poverty and 38 million of them fell below poverty line in one year because of the spending on their own healthcare is quite alarming and shameful for the central government.    

The spokesman said primary health centres, community health centres in rural areas which are only service providers to the poor people lacked basic facilities thereby forcing the people to rush to urban areas even for treatment of small ailments and falling into trap of private hospitals. The spokesman said there is complete lack of medicines, doctors, paramedical staff and basic medical facilities in rural areas for which there is no adequate provision in the current Union Budget. The spokesman said privatization of health sector has also played havoc on the poor people, as there are frequent reports about the people being fleeced by these private hospitals. In December 2017 Fortis Memorial Hospital was in news because of huge charges in a case.  The spokesperson said the irregularities, cheating and fraudulent activities in providing services to the patients at extremely high costs in private hospitals in the country, have assumed alarmingly  dimension.  Professional misconduct too in these hospitals is being reported very frequently.

The spokesperson said the governments both national and states, cannot afford to turn nelson’s eye to the prevailing situation as these hospitals are functioning more like centers of commercial activities rather than providing treatment to the needy with humanitarian approach. The spokesperson said the central and state governments are largely responsible for this state of affairs as they have failed to provide quality medical services in government hospitals.

Pointing out that people are forced to rush to private hospitals because of poor services in government hospitals, the spokesman said the per capita expenditure on government hospitals is  extremely low. The spokesman also condemned the successive governments for not improving health services in the country.  The LGP said private sector super specialty hospitals have turned into money spinning machines at the cost of human lives as their functioning is like that of the gangs of organized criminals. The spokesperson said lack of governmental control in regulating them, has immensely accentuated the problems. The LGP said providing affordable and effective medical facilities to the people is the prime duty of a government, both, of the states and the center, but they have pushed the people to the mercy of private sector hospitals where they are being fleeced.