- Why in News- After two weeks of protest against the Right to Health Bill, private doctors in Rajasthan called off their agitation after reaching an agreement with the State government on the applicability of the legislation.
- The Private Hospitals & Nursing Homes Association announced that all hospitals across the State will start functioning now.
- Principal Secretary (Medical Education) and representatives of agitating doctors arrived at a consensus that the private hospitals that have not got concessions or taken land and building at subsidised rates from the State government will be kept out of the purview of the Act.
- The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding comprising eight points.
- Salient features of the Law- The Rajasthan Right to Health Act, 2022
- The Right to Health Bill, passed in the Assembly on March 21, gives every resident of Rajasthan the right to emergency treatment care without prepayment of requaisite fees or charges to any health institution.
- The law provides for a social audit and grievance redress,
- It specifies that private health-care institutions would be compensated for the charges incurred for such treatment.
- Why the protests against such a law?
- The doctors who came out in large numbers to protest the law on the streets of said they were distrustful of the government’s promise of recompense for expenses incurred for treating patients during an emergency.
- Details missing: To the charge that there is no detailing of the process, health right activists have pointed out that it would be a function of the Rules, not the law itself.
- Charge of Interference: The protesting doctors also claimed to be apprehensive of the government’s interference in their functioning once the law is enforced.
- However, this is scarcely the first such exposition of the right to health.
- In 1989, the Supreme Court observed that “every injured citizen brought for medical treatment should instantaneously be given medical aid to preserve life and thereafter the procedural criminal law should be allowed to operate in order to avoid negligent death”.
Constitutional Articles and Health
- The Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), enshrined in Chapter IV of the Constitution of India, require the state to, among other duties,
- promote the welfare of its people (Art.38);
- protect their health and strength from abuse (Art 39(e));
- provide public assistance in case of sickness, disability or “undeserved want” (Art 41)
- ensure just and humane conditions of work; and
- raise nutrition levels, improve the standard of living and consider improvement of public health as its primary duty (Art 47).
- In addition to the DPSP, some other health-related provisions can be found in the 11th and 12th Schedules, as subjects within the jurisdictions of Panchayats and Municipalities, respectively.
- The Constitution of India does not expressly recognize Right to Health as a fundamental right under Part III of the Constitution (Fundamental Rights).
- However, through judicial interpretation, this has been read into the fundamental right to life & personal liberty (Article 21) and is now considered an inseparable part of the Right to Life.
Article 23 of the Constitution of India also indirectly contributes to protecting the Right to Health as it prohibits human trafficking and child labour.
