NEW DELHI: A group of the country’s well-known doctors has decided to ask political parties to include long-standing healthcare issues — from universal health coverage to regulation of private healthcare providers to catastrophic health expenditure — in their 2019 election manifestos.
The Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH), a network of about 200 doctors from across the country, will release the ‘Ethical Doctors’ Manifesto’ this week, that will urge parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to bring ‘Healthcare for All’ on top of their agenda.
“We felt the need to do this since affordable and quality healthcare, despite being a fundamental right, never gets the attention from political parties it deserves,” said Arun Gadre, a Pune-based gynaecologist senior member of the alliance. Members of the alliance have been actively voicing their concerns about malpractices in the medical profession, education, corporatisation of healthcare and other systemic issues afflicting the medical sector at the national level.