Left allies blast government's health policies

New Delhi, May 9 (UNI) Blasting the government for its wrong health policies, the Left allies today demanded a regulatory mechanism to check the virtual taking over of the health sector by private enterprise and increase in its annual budget allocation which was very dismal.

CPM leader Mrs Brinda Karat, initiating a discussion in Rajya Sabha on the 'Working of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare', said the intrusion into the health sector by private enterprise had reduced the government policies to a naught.

''The slogan of health is wealth has now become ill health is wealth,'' she said while observing that private hospitals were taking most of the money out of people's pockets, thereby landing them into huge debts She also criticised the government for not monitoring the functioning of such hospitals which acquired land at concessional rates on the condition that 30 per cent beds would be reserved for the poor but backed out from the commitment after sometime.

Lamenting the very dismal budget allocation for the Health Sector, which was comparable only to countries including Myanmar and Sudan, Mrs Karat called for increase in the allocation to bring the health services on par with most developed nations.

She also called for improving the rural health programmes by building infrastructure.

Expressing serious concern at the deterioration in the standard of the AIIMS, the CPM leader wanted an assurance from the government for preservation of the autonomous character of the premier health institute.

She criticised the government for its ''wrong priorities and impaired vision'' in the health sector saying the government's approach of talking in a language that did not match its policies, had resulted in virtual dismantling of the puiblic health sector.

She also accused the government of being insensitive on the issues of child and maternal mortality, malaria, chickengunia, malnutrition among children and anaemia.

However, on HIV/AIDS ,suficient funds were available because these came from foreign agencies and countries.

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