Health and health care must be established as a human right, said Justice Anand, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, even as he acknowledged the limitations of such legal provisions and called for civil society organisations to assert people's rights. He was addressing a gathering of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan at a national consultation documenting the heart-rending stories of people who lost their loved ones or suffered heavy losses because they were denied health care.
The six narratives presented before Justice Anand demonstrated how public health services deny health care to the poor. Emergency care is not available at sterilization camps. Essential drugs and vaccines are absent in public health institutions. Treatment is delayed because doctors are not on duty and primary health centres refuse to admit seriously ill patients. People are discriminated against in health care because of poverty.
Suchitra Devi (all names in the narratives have been changed to protect their privacy) died while undergoing a tubectomy at a sterilisation camp in Halharmau primary health centre (PHC), Uttar Pradesh. She had been persuaded by the local auxiliary nurse midwife to undergo the procedure, and signed the consent form without being explained its contents. The sterilisation camp clearly did not have provision for emergency medical care though such provision must be made. The PHC staff including the doctor fled the scene without informing Suchitra's relatives, who found her body on a stretcher outside the operation theatre.
Twelve-year-old Neeta from Malakapur in UP was taken to the district hospital in Moradabad after being bitten by a rabid dog. However, the anti-rabies vaccine was not available and Neeta died within a few days.
Tukaram from Thane district was taken to Saralgaon PHC and then Murbad rural hospital after being bitten by a snake. However, anti-snake venom serum was not available at the public services and injections had to be bought in the private market after long waits. Tukaram died the same day.
One-year-old Asha of Mokhada, Thane district, was suffering from pneumonia when her parents took her to the PHC. They were sent back because the doctor was not there. They returned after some time and were made to wait but when the doctor came he said the child could not be admitted because there was no space at the PHC which had only a single bed. Asha was kept at a neighbour's home and treated from there but eventually died.
In West Bengal, Chotu, his father, mother and sister were referred by their local doctor, Dr Biswas, to the government hospital for treatment of tuberculosis with Directly Observed Therapy. The family was refused TB treatment because they did not have a ration card and their name was not mentioned in the voter's list. When next Dr. Biswas met Chotu, his father and little sister had died.
Professor Satyaranjan Sathe, constitutional expert and former principal of ILS Law College, Pune, noted that the government had abdicated its responsibility to provide health care handing over the job to the private sector which is only interested in making a profit.
A total of 60 cases from all over the country have been collected, reflecting the abysmal state of our health system. The documentation of cases is still going on. These will be used as the basis for a petition by the JSA to the NHRC. The NHRC has already suggested that a constitutional amendment be enacted to make the right to health care a fundamental right.
The JSA meeting also launched its national campaign for the right to health care as a fundamental right in the Indian constitution with minimum essential services legally ensured at all levels from primary health centres to tertiary hospitals.
All health activists who work with the community are asked to document similar cases of denial of health care. These can be sent to the following contacts.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Abhay Shukla at cehatpun@vsnl.com