NEW DELHI: A meeting organised by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences' Front for Social Consciousness at the Institute this past week unanimously passed a resolution opposing user charges in the health sector and demanding immediate withdrawal.

Participating in a panel discussion on "Public sector health financing: User charges not the answer'', AIIMS Cardiology Department head Dr. K. S. Reddy said: "The Government must provide primary, secondary and tertiary health-care to all those who need it. Even when a system of exemption is ostensibly in place, the poor find it difficult to access it. The goal must be good quality barrier-less health care, that is impossible with user charges.''

Pointing out that large sections of the population are vulnerable to "the drastic economic consequences of ill health'', former AIIMS Director Dr. L. M. Nath said: "In India over 83 per cent of the health expenditure is borne by individuals. Health care has to be need-based.''

Stating that India was very poorly placed in the world so far as health care access and quality was concerned and that it was sliding further, former Dean of AIIMS Dr. B. N. Tandon said: "As AIIMS serves as a model for the country, one has to be very careful that anti-people health care models do not get institutionalised.''

All the speakers emphasised the need for greater Government spending on health and asserted that user charges were not the way for financing institutions like AIIMS.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail