‘Need to club health, environmental laws’
LUCKNOW :UP minister for medical and health Siddharth Nath Singh said here on Monday that there should be deterrent laws to discourage government doctors availing non-practicing allowance despite private practice. He said as per the law, government doctors could not do private practice but somehow they were able to win court cases when the government sued them.
He also said there was a need to club environmental and health laws as poor hygiene and environmental degradation and pollution were responsible for outbreak of many diseases.
Inaugurating a three-day national seminar on ‘Medicine and Health Laws’ organised by Amity Law School on Amity University Lucknow Campus, he said many a time the government had threatened doctors to shun private practice and serve the poor.
The issue was a major cause of concern and the government wanted to put an end to private practice by government doctors, he said.
Singh appealed to the law students to suggest measures so that government doctors availing NPAs did not indulge in private practice. He said public health services faced a number of challenges and this was one of them. “Human resource and infrastructure are a major concern in medical and health sector,” he said.
The minister said there was a need to club environmental and health laws to serve society better. He said many health problems like dengue, malaria and chikungunya were due to prevailing unhygienic conditions and water logging that became a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
“Without solving the environmental problems we cannot solve health related issues,” the minister said. The minister also expressed concern over rising number of quacks, untrained nurses and pharmacists. He underlined the importance of Intellectual Property Rights on common ways of curing illness.
Justice DK Arora, judge, Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court talked about various health laws and mentioned his personal experiences with cases regarding medical and health laws. He focused on citizens’ ‘Right to Health.’ Dr MLB Bhatt, vice chancellor KGMU, Lucknow, Naresh Chandra, Mentor, Amity Law School and director projects, Amity Lucknow Campus and Professor Balraj Chauhan, director, Amity Law School were also present on the occasion.