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Assembly passes Public Health Bill

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 31 � The State Assembly today passed The Assam Public Health Bill, 2010 by voice vote. The event of passing the Bill into legislation has been hailed by both the Treasury and the Opposition benches as a historic one. Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the legislation as the first of its kind in the country. The Union Government has assured the required funds for the implementation of the legislation, he said.

The legislation has a provision to �provide for protection and fulfilment of the rights in relation to health and well-being, health equity and justice, including those related to all the underlying departments of health as well as health care and for achieving the goal of health for all and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.�

Moreover, it has sought to guarantee the people their right to appropriate and efficacious medicines and right to effective measures for prevention, treatment and control of epidemic and endemic diseases.

It has laid down that all hospitals or health establishments of the State irrespective of their being in the state or private sector, shall have to provide free health care services, maintaining appropriate protocol of treatment for first 24 hours to an emergency patient of any kind.

It has sought also to make coordination with other relevant departments obligatory for the Health Department for the sake of providing the people access to the minimum essential food �which is nutritionally adequate,� �adequate supply of drinking water,� �sanitation through appropriate and effective sewerage and drainage systems,� among others.

The legislation has the provision to fix responsibilities of the other departments concerned in matters of providing the people the proper atmosphere for a healthy life. With this aim in view, the Bill has proposed that the departments concerned must ensure that the systems concerning waste disposal and management, pollution control, control of ecological degradation, control of insects etc are in place, among others.

The provision for Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of new development projects has also been provided in the legislation, besides the adoption of Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) by the Health and Family Welfare Department for the health institutions under its control and the semi-Government as well as private nursing homes or health establishments.

It has proposed formation of patient welfare societies (Rogi Kalyan Samiti) for various categories of health institutions. One of the significant provisions of the Bill is authorization of the Health Department for framing rules etc to prescribe remedial measures in case a patient fails to receive attention in a Government hospital or health establishment due to absence of the doctors or any other medical staff.

The legislation has the provision of a State Public Health Board with the Chief Secretary as its chairperson and District Public Health Boards with the Deputy Commissioners of the districts concerned/ Principal Secretaries of the Autonomous Councils in the Sixth Schedule districts or their nominees as the chairpersons, for monitoring its implementation..

However, it has a provision which states that every health care provider has the right to be treated with respect and dignity by the user and to expect the user to comply with all the duties as enumerated in the legislation.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, Health Minister Sarma said that the Government was planning to implement the legislation from January next, framing of the rules under the legislation would take some time.

All possible measures will be taken to avoid any confusion during the process of framing the rules. If the situation so demands, the Government may bring amendments to the Bill in the next session of the Assembly, he said.

The Bill is the product of the commitment made by the Chief Minister in his Budget speech last year and the provision for free treatment to the emergency patients during the first 24 hours is incorporated in it in consonance with the spirit of a Supreme Court of India judgement. The Bill has also provided for the dignified last rites of the people who die in the hospitals, the Minister said.

He assured that a corpus fund for meeting the obligation under this provision would be raised. But the private sector healthcare establishments would also come forward to shoulder at least 10 per cent of the financial burden of this fund.

Uddhav Barman and Ananta Deka (CPI-M) and Dr Aditya Langthasa (AIUDF), among others, took part in the debate on the Bill.

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