Put RTH Bill In Abeyance Till Consensus Is Achieved: NATHEALTH Prez

On Wednesday, healthcare providers body NATHEALTH's President, Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi in a statement spoke on the ongoing tussle between Rajasthan's government and the state's private doctors, he said, that the National health policy 2017 unveiled the intent that India would like to deliberate and enact a universal health policy with the universal right to health for its citizens.  

After over 5 years, he said Rajasthan is the first state to legislate such a policy. There have been deep protests among private providers and clinicians cutting across public and private lines since this act was passed by Rajasthan legislature last week. 

"This shows that rights and obligations have to be carefully balanced and an operational framework needs to be established with accountability on each counter parties. This has to be deliberated upfront and agreed upon between major stakeholders. This is a prerequisite and not an afterthought of such a major bill and five years would have been a fair time horizon, yet it has not been done," Dr Raghuvanshi said in a statement.

He further said that the bill raises significant questions that weigh in on private providers around operational viability, financial sustainability, patient privacy and the increased legal and criminal cases that will be lodged against doctors who are already victims of physical violence.

"NATHEALTH believes that UHC is a laudable objective that can only happen with the active participation of public with private sector. But it requires serious commitments - political, financial, technical and operational and involves consensus building upfront among key stakeholders, he said. 

Dr Raghuvanshi enumerated that UHC has never been achieved anywhere in the world where the private sector fears that public good will be delivered at private cost and we sincerely request the Rajasthan Government to put this bill on abeyance till a consensus is achieved and an operational framework is established. 

"NATHEALTH stands ready to support all governments- central and state, to outline the positive role the private sector can play in such a UHC framework and work collaboratively to help build consensus," he added.