The parliamentary committee said on Saturday that private hospitals were overblown due to the lack of beds in government hospitals and the lack of specific guidelines for treating the epidemic among the rising number of Covid-19 cases. With this, the committee emphasized that many deaths could be avoided by the permanent pricing process. Standing Parliamentary Committee on Health, Ram Gopal Yadav, submitted a report on the Kovid-19 epidemic and its management to Rajya Sabha President M Venkaiah Naidu.
This is the first report of any parliamentary committee on the government’s fight against the Kovid-19 epidemic. The committee said that spending on health in a country with a population of 1.3 billion is ‘too low’ and the weakness of the Indian health system is a major obstacle to effectively fighting the epidemic. The report therefore recommends the government to increase its investment in the public health system.
The committee has asked the government to make continuous efforts to achieve national health policy goals of spending 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in two years, as the 2025 deadline is still far away and public health is up to that point. There is no risk involved. In National Health Policy 2017, government spending on health care is set at 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025, up from 1.15 in 2017.
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The committee said the number of beds in government hospitals in the country was thought to be inadequate in view of the growing number of Kovid and non-Kovid patients. Due to the lack of specific guidelines for Covid treatment in private hospitals, patients have to pay extra fees, the report said. The Committee emphasized the need for better collaboration between government and private hospitals, addressing the shortage of government health facilities and infectious diseases. The committee said doctors who sacrificed their lives in the fight against infectious disease should be recognized as martyrs and appropriate relief for their families.
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