VIJAYAWADA: Praja Arogya Vedika (PAV), a social organisation, working on public healthcare found fault with state government for its intention to privatise health sector in guise of handing over government hospitals and primary health centres to corporate hospitals claiming better maintenance.
In a round table conference, organised by PAV, here on Sunday, it was decided to ask government to withdraw GO No 633 that is meant for operating government hospitals and health institutes in a Public Private Partnership mode.
The other resolutions included demand for extension of better lab and radiology services free of cost by the government itself as per Indian Public Health Standards, demand to fill up vacant posts of doctors, lab technicians and other staff in government hospitals. They also urged the government to detest from leasing out district hospitals to corporate hospitals at the same time and take measures for improving teaching standards in government medical colleges by improving teaching hospitals.
Speaking on the occasion, PAV state president Dr. S Sudhakar said that the present policy of the state government to go for PPP mode for healthcare and medical services in the state would destabilize the health and medical system in the state and put additional financial burden on the people, especially those from poor and downtrodden sections. He reasoned that no corporate hospital would maintain government hospitals for free and in one form or other would charge and look for profit.
He said government’s reasons for PPP mode in government hospitals and health institutions maintenance is laughable as the labs in government hospital have only become defunct as government had failed to replenish the stocks of necessary chemicals and equipment in those labs and also not filled the vacant posts of lab technicians.
PAV convener Dr. S Suresh said under National Health Missions, state was given `120 crore for free medical diagnosis in government hospitals and a suggestion was made that it could take help of private parties, which was not mandatory. But the state government with an intention to fatten the pockets of corporate hospitals had decided to go for PPP mode. He pointed out that such an experiment had failed in Bihar.