Andhra Pradesh

Bid to privatise health services: employees’ union

ONGOLE: The United Medical and Health Employees’ Union has resolved to oppose government efforts to trifurcate the Medical and Health Department.

The union, at its fourth State conference here on Sunday, called upon medical employees to oppose all attempts of the government to privatise the health services.

In a resolution, the union blamed the government for deviating from its programme of providing health for all.

The World Health Organisation gave guidelines to the government to provide one primary health centre with six sub-centres for every 30,000 population, organise one community health centre for every one lakh population and start one medical college in every district to provide health to all people.

But the government, in its bid to escape from its responsibility, proposed to trifurcate the Health Department into primary, secondary and tertiary level services.

At the primary level, it proposed to privatise 185 primary health centres in the State and convert 10 per cent of PHCs into polyclinics.

The union alleged that the government had plans to hand over all PHCs either to private organisations or pharmaceutical companies.

At the secondary and tertiary levels, the government refused to release funds to teaching hospitals.

It launched Arogya Sri scheme to release crores of rupees to corporate hospitals.

The government was meeting 90 per cent of the expenses of ‘108’ and ‘104’ services provided by private organisations while declining funds for maintenance of ambulances in government hospitals.

Director of Health Ramesh Chandra inaugurated the conference. Union State president M. Rangaiah presided.

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