Rural areas have right to equal healthcare facilities:SC.

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Rural areas have right to equal healthcare facilities:SC

     Emphasizing that people in rural areas have the right to equal healthcare facilities, the Supreme Court said the government is duty-bound to enhance access to healthcare in such areas and qualified doctors should be appointed to take care of the rural population.

      A bench of Justice B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna said there should not be discrimination between rural and urban population in providing healthcare facilities.The court passed the observation while setting aside the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act of 2004 which allowed diploma holders to treat certain diseases.The court held that a state legislature has no legislative competence to enact a law in respect of modern medicine or allopathic medicine, contrary to the standards that have been determined by the central law.

     "In view of the Indian Medical Council Act,1956 and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder, the Assam Act,is declared to be null and void, in view of the Assam legislature not having the legislative competence to enact the said law,"the bench said.

         Underscoring the need to strengthen rural health infrastructure,the bench said."The framers of the Constitution,in Article 47,have directed the Union and state governments to regard 'improvement of public health,' as it's primary duty.It follows from this directive that the state shall make all possible efforts to ensure equitable access to healthcare services.These efforts must be made to progressively realize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,as acknowledged in international conventions and agreements."

80% specialist shortage in villages:Govt report

     There is a shortfall of 80% specialists at the Community Health Centres(CHCs) in the country.This includes surgeons, obstetricians and gynecologists, physicians and pediatricians.

    CHCs are an important pillar of the primary health care infrastructure that serve as referral centers for Primary Health Centres (PHCs).It has 30 indoor beds with one OT,X-ray,labor room and laboratory facilities.

       As per minimum norms,a CHC is required to be manned by four medical specialists i.e. surgeon, physician,obstetrician/gynecologist and pediatrician

    As on March 31,2022, the Rural Health Statistics 2021-22 released by the government shows,there are 6,064 CHCs-5,480 in rural areas and 584 in urban areas-functional in the country.Though the number of specialist doctors at the CHCs have increased from 3,550 in 2005 to 4,485 in 2022, the document reveals,there remains a shortfall of 83% of surgeons,74%of obstetricians & gynecologists,79%of physicians and 82% of pediatricians.

   "Overall,there is a shortfall of 79.5% specialists at the CHCs as compared to the requirement for existing CHCs,"it states.

     PHCs are the first contact point between the village community and the medical officer.According to the Rural Health Statistics 2021-22 report, manpower in PHC includes a medical officer supported by paramedical and other staff.In the case of PHC,for health assistants (male+female), the shortfall is 74.2%, the report says.

       "For allopathic doctors at PHC,there is a shortfall of 3.1% of the total requirement at all India levels.This is again mainly due to a significant shortfall of doctors at PHCs in the states of Odisha (298), Chhattisgarh (279) and Karnataka (60).Apart from Allopathic doctors,there are 8,473 AYUSH doctors available at PHCs,"it adds.