The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Opposition to privatisation of health services

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 04, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Opposition to privatisation of health services

Staff Reporter

‘Outsourcing measures taken up by Government are to profit private firms’

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Strong opposition: General secretary of CHEF Ram Kishan (second from left) and President of CHEF Madan Pal (right) arriving at the national convention in Bangalore on Thursday.

Bangalore: People’s right to health is being endangered by the Government’s policy to privatise the health sector and also by giving a thrust to public-private participation in the name of efficiency, quality service and less corruption, Madan Pal, president of Central Health Employees’ Federation (CHEF), said here on Thursday.

Inaugurating the national convention against privatisation of health services, organised by CHEF in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Institute Non-Gazetted Staff Association, Mr. Pal said the various outsourcing measures taken up by the Government in hospitals in Delhi was with the intention of helping private agencies.

In Delhi, hospital services such as kitchen, laundry and housekeeping were being outsourced to private contractors. In the process, people’s health was being sacrificed.

He also opposed the Government’s measures to introduce user charges in hospitals, which is a huge burden for poor patients. The convention adopted a resolution to oppose the National Health Policy of the Centre and put forward the following demands — scrapping of public-private partnership in the health sector, stopping outsourcing of services in government hospitals, scrapping of user fee in Government hospitals, and that all essential medicines, as recommended by the Health committee and the World Health Organisation, should be supplied by Government hospitals free of cost to patients.

Insurance scheme

Ram Kishan, general secretary, CHEF, said that the Government is planning to bring in an insurance scheme through private companies in Government hospitals and even the Central Government Health Services (CGHS) is being roped in for this. “The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Anbumani Ramadoss, has given the promise of cashless, hassle-free medical treatment to the people. But this would be fulfilled by roping in private insurers who will make money at the cost of poor patients. Such schemes have already been introduced in Assam and Karnataka and people are being made to believe that privatisation is the only way to provide healthcare to the common man,” Mr. Kishan said.

New move

He added that there was also a move by the Government to make JIPMER, Pondicherry, an autonomous body, but this was met with stiff opposition by the employees of the organisation. K. Nagendra from National Tuberculosis Institute and M. Rangappa, general secretary of NIMHANS Employees’ Association and various representatives from trade unions and employees’ associations were present.

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