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| Sunday, Sep 21, 2008
Health care access, cost matter: Ansari
B. Madeline Vithya is the cynosure of all eyes on Saturday
as she receives medals from the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical
University Chancellor and Governor, Surjit Singh Barnala,
in Chennai. She was a student of the P.S.G. Institute of Medical
Sciences and Research, Coimbatore. The occasion was the 18th
convocation of the university. Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari
applauds the topper. Vice-Chancellor K. Meer Mustafa Hussain
is also seen (second from left).
Chennai: Health need not be transformed into a tradable quantity
as a result of the switch to market orientation and advocacy
to review the role of the public sector, Vice-President Hamid
Ansari said here on Saturday.
The government would continue to be looked on as the prime provider
of tertiary and secondary health care by the poorer segments,
he said in a speech, at the 18th convocation of the Tamil Nadu
Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, that was critical of recent developments
on the health care front.
From the viewpoint of the citizen, accessibility to and cost
of health care would and should remain the determinants, Mr.
Ansari stressed. A recently published study of below poverty
line households conducted by Transparency International India
and the Centre for Media Studies indicated the levels of corruption
in access to hospital facilities.
Stark choice
Expressing concern at the high out-of-pocket expenditure on
health care, he said the burden of curative treatment was being
borne by citizens who had to rely on private services. “The
choice is thus stark — limited and weak public health
service network or expensive and elaborate private health services.
If the poor have the misfortune of facing a life-threatening
condition, should they either incur heavy debt for requisite
health services or suffer morbidity and mortality?”
Inequities arose when vital public services such as health and
education were not recognised as basic and fundamental human
rights, but were left to the harsh vagaries of the marketplace.
This further deepened when the government was not able to assign
useful and practical roles to the public sector and public duties
for private professionals.
As far as private medical sector was concerned, Mr. Ansari said
there were questions about its commitment to provide free or
concessional treatment to poor patients though it received concessions
from the government.
The Vice-President suggested expansion of the health insurance
sector and its spread to rural areas. Health insurance provided
a way of risk pooling and cost sharing among various segments
of the population.
Congratulating the graduates, Mr. Ansari urged them to perform
“the inherent public duties” of the profession even
as they pursued their careers in the private sector.
Mr. Ansari extended his warm felicitations to the eight recipients
of the Degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) for significant
contributions in their fields — T.V. Devarajan (General
Medicine), A. Devadoss (Orthopaedics), V. Seshiah (Diabetology),
R. Sivaraman (Geriatric Surgery and Surgical Gastroenterology),
K. Chinnaswamy (Pharmacy), J.G. Kannapan (Orthodontics), I.
Satyamurthy (Interventional Cardiology) and Mohan Kameswaran
(ENT Surgery).
A total of 11,371 students received their degrees. Of them,
8,997 were undergraduates, 2,260 postgraduates and postgraduate
diploma holders, and 79 were superspeciality candidates, said
Vice-Chancellor Meer Mustafa Hussain. Further, 35 candidates
were conferred Ph.D. research degrees in various disciplines.
Chancellor and Governor Surjit Singh Barnala awarded 58 gold
medals, 17 silver medals and 38 cash awards to 62 candidates,
and administered the pledge to those who received their degrees.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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