Worried about how no political parties fighting to form the government here is talking about what the city’s health-plan will look like, a delegation of doctors from the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) will meet with top leaders from all three parties and seek their blueprint on how they plan to keep the Capital hale and hearty.
DMA anti-quackery cell chairman Anil Bansal said: “Being able to provide quality healthcare is the backbone of good governance. Today, none of the political parties — the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party — are talking about healthcare, population control, increase in the health budget or even reduction of pressure on large hospitals. Rampant quackery and contract employees are the other two problems plaguing the healthcare system which are not being discussed at all.”
Worried about the nose-diving health budget, disability rights activist and physician Satendra Singh said: “With among the largest population in the world, India has the least expenditure allocated to health. A minuscule nine per cent as health budget cannot work for the country. The introduction of contract employees has left the already-disillusioned population of medical workers under stress and very unsure of their future.”
He added that the betterment of the city now doesn’t seem to be on the agenda of the parties. “While the back-biting, mudslinging is all good as a debate, nobody is telling us what they plan to do after they come to power. A cut in the health and education budget is not welcome and these are areas that we hope the parties will work in,” he said.
Stating that they have unfortunately largely remained invisible to various governments, a senior staff nurse from a government hospital said: “The government hospitals are in shambles. There is no quality control, overcrowding in high-risk zone is routine, primary care centres are non functional and add to this, Delhi faces fevers and infections round the year. Most governments have a knee-jerk reaction to this and there is almost no care for medical personnel working in this environment. The government has to re-look and overhaul the healthcare system, and our working condition if it wants the Capital to stay healthy.”
She admits that she hasn’t heard a word about this from any political party.
