National Inquiry on Health Rights Series of Public Hearings - Regional and National

To be organised by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)

in collaboration withNational Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

WHY SHOULD WE ORGANISE A SERIES OF PUBLIC HEARINGS ON HEALTH RIGHTS

IN 2015-16?

• Serious deterioration in public health services and stagnant or declining public health budgets since mid 1990s

• Sharp rise in costs of unregulated private medical care

Why did Health rights actions and Health Rights campaign emerge in 2000s?

• Growing popular resistance to negative effects of neoliberal globalisation - privatisation

2000 health activists from 19 states across India organised a National health assembly to launch

the people’s health movement.

Formation of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan in 2000

Looking back for thinking forward:Collaboration between NHRC and JSA for series

of Public hearings on Health rights in 2004• NHRC collaborated with Jan Swasthya Abhiyan to conduct a

series of Public hearings on Health rights, as a national inquiry process in year 2004. Presenting Health as a classical social-economic right which can become justiciable

• Failure of state to provide health care – presented not just as weakness of implementation, but as Human rights violations

• NHRC hearings on Health rights attracted large scale public support and popular participation, media coverage

Political context of Health movement over last one and half decades

NDA – 11999-2004

UPA – 12004-2009

UPA – 22009-2014

NDA – 22014 - ???

NHRC JSA Hearings I

NHRC JSA Hearings II

A decade later (2005-2015) …. What is the situation?

Some strengthening of Public health services with NRHM - but now under threat due to

recent budget cuts Healthcare has increasingly

become a commodity, Healthcare a massive, unregulated Industry !

Profit logic

Rights basedlogic

Two contending logics in the Health sector

Why include the Private Medical Sector in a Human rights based inquiry?

i. The Human rights rationale: Patients rights are Human rights – state obligation to protect

ii. The Market failure rationale: Realisation of Rights requires Regulation

iii. The Health systems rationale: Public health services are constrained due to unregulated Private medical sector; major public subsidies to private sector

iv. The Ethical imperative – ethical duties of doctors translate into basic rights of patients

Need for Health rights approach to activate Medical councils

• Medical Council of India (MCI) and State Medical Councils (SMCs) have legal mandate to ensure ethical conduct by doctors, including patients rights

• However, SMCs have not taken up ethical issues seriously and proactively (Maharashtra Medical Council 2005-2015 – 756 complaints, 80% pending, only 3 short term punishments)

• There are a few exceptions like Punjab Medical Council • Need to demand expansion, people-oriented restructuring

and social accountability of medical councils

Need for Health rights approach to activate Public authorities concerning

Private medical sector• Public authorities concerned with regulation of

private hospitals need to address Patients rights while operationalising regulation

• Need to demand appropriate Clinical establishments acts in various states to ensure socially accountable, patient oriented regulation

• Private hospitals receiving significant public subsidies and PPPs must be held to account similar to publicly supported bodies – the logic of privatisation needs to be challenged

AREAS OF RIGHTS VIOLATIONS RELATED TO THE

PRIVATE MEDICAL SECTOR

A. Denial of patients rights in the private medical sector, which have some legal justification today

• Denial of Emergency medical care in hospital, on the grounds that emergency treatment would be started only after payment is made by patient / caregivers

• Patient / caregivers not provided basic information related to nature of treatment and related costs in a private hospital

• Patient is not given records / reports on demand during period of hospitalization

• Denial of right to second opinion – patient or caregivers not allowed to consult another doctor / specialist during period of hospitalisation

• Denial of right to informed consent – proper information not provided before operation or other invasive procedure

• Not respecting patient’s privacy, or not keeping confidential the identity of the patient.

• The dead body of a deceased patient is not handed over to the relatives, until the full payment of all expenses has been made to the hospital. Similarly, newborn baby of a recently delivered mother is not handed over to the mother, until the full hospital expenses have been paid.

• Patient is coerced into buying medicines from a specific medical store in the hospital premises

• Patients rights denied during a clinical trial – proper informed consent not taken, full information about trial not provided, treatment for trial side effects not given, insurance coverage related to trial not provided etc.

• Patient from economically weaker section denied treatment in a ‘Charitable’ / Trust hospital

B. Information that needs to be collected from sources besides patient testimonies

• All doctors are supposed to display their professional rates (MCI Code of Ethics), however very few doctors do so. This can be documented by visiting some clinics / hospitals.

• Doctors are not supposed to take gifts or sponsorships from pharmaceutical companies (MCI Code of Ethics). They are also not supposed to sponsor such products. Naturally, the massive amounts that drug companies spend on doctors are recovered through charging very high drug prices from patients. However information about this could be provided by Medical representative associations or other ‘internal’ sources.

• Doctors are not supposed to give or take commissions in any form, in their relationships with other doctors (MCI Code of Ethics). Again, information on this is difficult to obtain except from certain ethical doctors who may have been offered but have refused such commissions in the past.

• Doctors are supposed to prescribe medicines by generic names as far as possible, which would lead to reduction in the cost to patients (MCI Code of Ethics). However, as we know, this does not happen usually. To document that this is not taking place, we could collect say 100 prescriptions by private doctors, which do not mention the generic name of the drug.

C. Some major problems faced by patients in private hospitals, which are not included in the above categories• Medical negligence leading to bodily damage, and in some cases even

death of the patient• Gross over-charging and arbitrary charging of patients, • Irrational and unnecessary procedures including medication,

investigation, operation or other treatment It is doubtful if presenting information on these areas to

NHRC would be followed by any specific action from their end, and

It may not be productive to ask people to present testimonies on these areas to NHRC.

However these issues could be raised in a general manner, demanding for CEA

The movement for health rights and health system change must be part of the

wider struggle for social change