Health to be fundamental right now

New Delhi: In its bid to make “health for all” possible, the Centre has moved towards making health a “fundamental right” in the way that has been done for education.

With health high on its agenda, the government is also exploring the possibility of creating a “health cess” to raise the necessary resources.

In its draft of the new national health policy 2015 on Wednesday, the Union health ministry has proposed the following formulation: “the Centre shall enact, after due discussion and on the request of three or more states (using the same legal clause as used for the Clinical Establishments Bill) a National Health Rights Act, which will ensure health as a fundamental right whose denial will be justiciable”.

The draft, on which suggestions have been invited from the stakeholders, suggests that “states would be able to voluntarily opt for this by a resolution. States which have achieved a public health expenditure rate of over Rs 3,800 per capita (at current prices) should be in a position to deliver on this. It also says that there are states which are approaching or have even reached this target.”