The Hindu Business Line : Arogyasri, 108 services come in for sharp criticism

Hyderabad, Sept. 21 The public healthcare policy in general and Arogyasri (the health insurance scheme for the poor) and 108 services (for ambulance) in particular came in for sharp criticism from Dr D. Raja Reddy, a well-known neurosurgeon and former Director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.

Delivering the welcome address at a symposium on ‘Health Sector Reforms and Their Impact on People’ here on Saturday, Dr Reddy said that while the public healthcare system was limping because of Government neglect, the private healthcare industry was thriving.

The two-day symposium was organised in memory of Dr Jetti Sesha Reddy, who believed in basic medicare for the poor. “The number of people killed per day in road accidents was 30 in 2005, the same year the 108 service launched. The number went up to 34 in 2006, 40 in 2007 and 45 a day in the first six months of 2008,” he said.

Though the government received Rs 1,700 crore from the public through the Transport Department, it failed to evolve a rehabilitation programme for the huge number injured. Referring to the Arogyasri programme, he said majority of the funds went to cardiac surgeries.

“Of the Rs 274 crore spent on the scheme, Rs 135 crore went to cardiac surgeries alone. This was the price the Government paid for neglecting cardiology and surgery departments in the public hospitals,” he said.

Stressing on the need to strengthen the public healthcare system, he said that while 59,000 surgeries were performed with the Rs 274-crore Arogyasri budget (mostly in the corporate sector), the Gandhi Hospital could conduct 2.56 lakh operations with a meagre budget of Rs 12 crore.

Small is big

Driving home the message that small amounts spent on the public institutions could give far better results, Dr Reddy also wondered whether the Government could enforce quality checks in corporate hospitals.

Dr Mohan Rao of Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi) said globalisation and the subsequent structural adjustment programmes in the Third World countries severely impacted the quality of life of the poor.

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