DALEEL with SP SINGH - On Gorakhpur's Dead Children, Health Care, National Health Policy
On the 70th Independence Day, so many concerned citizens underlined irony by appending pictures of dead infants in a Gorakhpur hospital to Happy I-Day messages. The fact is that a Gorakhpur is waiting to happen any day in some hospital in Punjab. This debate tries to go beyond the rage, and engages with this complex issue of health care.
On the panel:
Dr Pyare Lal Garg, Paediatric Surgeon
Ex-Registrar, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences; Activist in the domains of Health, Education & Rural Development
Ms Inayat Kakar
Lawyer, Expert in Public Health Policies, Teaches at PGI, Qualified in the domain of Social Work
Dr Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal
Population Research Centre (Under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India); Researcher at CRRID - Centre for Research in Rural & Industrial Development; Has personally studied every single government hospital in Punjab
While it is alright to bemoan the tragedy at Gorakhpur & Farukhabaad, conditions in the medical facility in our neighbourhood could be even worse.
The sorry state of affairs goes much beyond scarcity of oxygen. Stories of loot by private hospitals abound. If we had a heart, we would have shouted and shrieked ourselves hoarse about the state of medical care in Punjab, much before those children were burnt alive in Patiala (Remember?). We would have engaged with national health policies if we cared about small kids in Gorakhpur, or anywhere.
Why have the politicians succeeded in inoculating us from public health concerns? Where is the debate about why India@70 can afford to have encephalitis claiming hundreds of lives every year without losing its standing globally?
* India spends about 1.4 percent of its GDP on public health, among the lowest in the world. Punjab's health spend on salaries is far more than on health care. The norm should be 5-8 % of GDP. Our target for 2025 is 2.5 GDP.
* 77% of expenditure on health was being borne by households and individuals. The government was contributing a mere 20%.
* People are dying not because treatment is not available, but because they cannot afford it. Or they are dying due to late diagnosis of diseases.
* 63 million people are being pushed each year into poverty because of high health related expenditure.
* There is little debate on National Health Policy that seems designed to promote the private health industry in the name of closing critical gaps in health care.
These are the issues which the dead kids in Gorakhpur & Farukhabad would want us to pay attention to. They cannot speak, but we can.
This episode of Daleel was first telecast on September 10, 2017, Sunday. Feedback, suggestions welcome at
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Thank you for watching. DALEEL WITH SP SINGH is ordinarily telecast every Wednesday at 8 pm on PTC News. It is often telecast again at 2 pm on Thursday. Please check listings as TV channels often change schedules without notice. So, check out the time, and since it may still change, do not bet your money on it.
