1,300 hand-written postcards sent to govt offices seek better health policies in state

Jan Arogya Abhiyan, a coalition of NGOs and health professionals, spearheaded this symbolic movement, rallying health advocates from various districts across the state. Notable contributions came from Kolhapur (450), Nashik (150), Nandurbar (200), Pune (150), Gadchiroli (50), Osmanabad (100), Amravati (50), Sangli (50), Solapur (50), and Parbhani (50). Civic societies from remote areas, such as Melghat in Amaravati, Nandurbar, and Gadchiroli, along with those from both rural and urban areas, participated in sending postcards through post-offices.

Dr Abhay Shukla, the national co-convenor of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, outlined the recent incident at Nanded hospital that highlighted the crisis engulfing the state’s health system. Despite expectations of significant improvements following the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government’s efforts have fallen short. Notably, Maharashtra allocates only 4.1 per cent of its total budget to public health and medical education, the lowest among all 28 Indian states.

“Over 32,000 vacant posts in public health and medical education departments need immediate attention. With the final budget presentation in March 2024, we want the government to focus on addressing critical health sector issues,” said Dr Shukla.

The health advocates also called for the strict enforcement of patient rights charter and rate card display in private hospitals, urging the government to establish grievance redressal cells to handle complaints against erring private hospitals. They also advocated that a failure to comply by these legal provisions should be treated as a violation of the law, with appropriate consequences for hospitals and officials.