NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a reply from the Union Secretary for Health and Family Welfare and the Director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here within four weeks on the reported increase in charges for various investigations and surgical/operative procedures at the institute.

Taking suo motu note of a report that appeared in the Delhi edition of The Hindu on November 30, 2005, under the heading "A bolt from the blue for patients at AIIMS", NHRC also directed the two respondents to inform them about the annual budgetary allocation to AIIMS and how much money they were expecting to generate from the recently introduced increase in charges for various investigations.

They have also been asked to inform the Commission whether there were any schemes for providing free medical treatment to patients who cannot afford to pay the charges, and, if so, the criteria for exemption of charges.

Right to Health

Taking a serious view of the matter and stating that the Right to Health is a basic human right directly connected to the Right of Life recognised by the international community in numerous international instruments, NHRC observed that the report, if true, raised a serious issue of right to health care as a basic human right.

The report, states NHRC, if true would make the quality of health services inaccessible to a large segment of society, particularly marginalised and vulnerable sections and even the lower middle class. Such steps would amount to indicate denial of quality health services to patients, not financially well off, NHRC observed.

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