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Concern at dwindling status of health as an individual right

By Correspondent

JALUKBARI, Dec 21 - Prof Mohan J Dutta from the National University of Singapore on Wednesday expressed concern over the gradually dwindling status of health as an individual right.

Delivering the first Dr Anamika Ray National Media Lecture at the Gauhati University, Prof Dutta said, �The health that we talk about today is limited to the concept of a healthcare system that is more inclined towards profit or money making.�

The lecture programme was organised by the Dr Anamika Ray Memorial Trust with the support of Gauhati University and UNICEF.

The topic on which Prof Dutta spoke was �Global Health Inequalities: Communication Advocacy and Social Change�.

Stressing the importance of communication in eradicating the health inequalities through the process of transforming private health to public resources utilised for money making, Prof Dutta underscored the need to change the whole communication process, �as communication is only meant for dissemination of information today whereas we should give importance on how communication mobilises the information.�

�The ability of people�s participation in the market created by the healthcare system has become the main cause for the systematic erosion of people�s healthy livelihood apart from other factors like climate change, displacement by dispossession, environment risks, uprooting and migration,� he added.

Rajat Baran Mahanta of the Dr Anamika Ray Memorial Trust in his welcome address highlighted the history of the trust that was formed in October 2017 and growth with the movement against �medical terrorism�.

In his inaugural address, Dr Mridul Hazarika, Vice Chancellor of GU, called inequality an alarming term �that arises for the rise of crime and can be eradicated through sustainable social change.�

Veena Kumari, Communication Officer of UNICEF, Assam in her special remark, gave a picture of the rural areas in the State that are suffering from a host of health hazards.

�With Assam at the second position after Madhya Pradesh bearing the highest infant mortality rate, that too with 86 percentage in rural areas, it highlights the government�s failure of demand inequalities, rather than the supply inequalities,� she said.

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