What ails our medical system and how to provide better health care? Who can best answer this question than doctors themselves?
Doctors present at the “Health of the Nation,” a forum for health advocacy, on Sunday gave their prescription to former Delhi Health Minister Harshvardhan, who many described as the future health minister of the country. Suggestions ranged from increasing health budget to banning alcohol and tobacco and developing an AIMS-like institute in the city.
Former Superintendent of Government Hospital for Mental Health M. Vijaya Gopal, said the contradictions of a thriving medical tourism in the country and the disadvantaged dying like flies.
Alternate systems like homeopathy needed government dispensaries, funds to reach rural areas and more colleges and post-graduate courses, homeopathy physician K.V.R.L.N. Sarma said.
Paediatrician Gorle Satyanarayana said infant mortality rate at 45 for 1,000 was higher than that of Sri Lanka. Immunisation for meningitis and other ailments was not being made available. Government hospitals lacked neonatal care and in private hospitals it costs up to Rs.40,000.
Surgical oncologist Murali Krishna Voonna wanted the health budget to be increased to 5 per cent by 2020 and 10 per cent by 2030. Besides deciding a healthy tariff, his other suggestions were regulated public private partnership, identifying genuine non-BPL population and compulsory health care insurance.
Neurologist K. Venkateswarlu suggested promoting inexpensive research, providing generic drugs at a low price and empanelment of specialists for public health care.
Santosh said a country like Thailand was providing health care at 4 per cent of GDP and Indian could do it at 2 per cent. However, State governments bearing the cost of health care was unsustainable. Gujarat managed to produce a stent at Rs.5,000, much cheaper than imported cost, he added.
