Right to Health should be pursuaded globally : Balakrishnan

Bhopal, Sep 14 (UNI) Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan today underlined the need of pursuing right to health in global perspective and said developing and underdeveloped countries should get the benefit of international research and development on health care.

Addressing a workshop ''Right to Health', organised by the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission here, Justice Balakrishnan said international human rights commission must play a crucial role in the field of health care globally.

''Developing and underdeveloped countries should get the benefit of research and development on health being conducted by the countries like the United States and Cananda,'' he opined.

Justice Balakrishnan said the topic right to healh had a wide ramification and it should not be confined to relations between doctor and patient alone and the aspect of violation of human rights in health had to be looked into.

He said while the United Nation had a fourm on political and civil rights, there was no such forum on 'Right to Health' in UN, he pointed out.

The Justice also expressed conern over the lack of health education in India and other third world countries. He said ignorance sometimes led to epidemic.

He also expressed concern over the death of children in many parts of the country due to malnutrition and said, '' It's a pity that after 60 years of independence we are unable to provide proper health care to the people,'' Justice Balakrishnan regretted.

In his address, Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice A K Patnaik suggested that the judges always required exposure to human rights. He said 'Right to Health' should be persuaded properly.

Justice Patnaik also said sensitisation of human being was necessary for the development of systems. ''Unless human being are sensitised they would not allow to function the system,'' he said.

He lauded the MPHRC for establishing the commission in 1992 even before the Human Rights Protection Act, which was introduced in 1993 and its initiatives to pursue on 'Right to Health.'' MPHRC Chairperson Justice D M Dharmadhikari said the commission would use human rights as a framework of human development and assess and address the human rights implications of health-related legislation, policies and programmes.

UNI BDG PS 1450