Statement of Union Health Minister of State Ashwani Chobey reflection of total apathy towards poor: ADEH

Ludhiana, October 13, 2017: The Alliance for Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH) has criticized the statement of Union Health Minister of state Ashwani Chobey where he has said that the problems in AIIMS are because people from far flung areas of the country come to AIIMS Delhi for treatment and that they should be sent back.
In a statement released here Dr G S Grewal – Former Chairman Punjab Medical Council (PMC), Dr Arun Mitra – Former Chairman Ethical Committee PMC (Ludhiana), Dr Arun Gadre (Pune) and Dr Shakeel Ur Rahman – General Secretary Indian Doctors for Peace & Development (Patna) all members of core committee ADEH said that this statement by the minster is totally shocking and full of apathy for the poor patients of the country. The doctors of AIIMS have very rightly criticized his statement and have stood by the medical ethics. Instead of talking of improving the health infrastructure in the country by increasing the public health spending, the minster is talking such meaningless things forgetting that health is our fundamental right to be obtained anywhere in the country. It is on record that the kiths and kins of the ministers and the bureaucrats go to the AIIMS for very trivial problems and get benefit out of it. The contempt towards poor people who have to spend days together without any shelter in the AIIMS, is reflection of the mindset of the central government. It is pertinent to note here that Ashwani Chobey has been the Health Minister in Bihar before coming to Delhi. When there was alliance between Nitish Kumar and BJP the ministry of Health has been with the BJP continuously for ten years. Because of their failure to do any positive thing for the health services in the state, the health indicators of Bihar are lowest in the country. The Community Health Centres which form the basis of health infrastructure in the country are only 78 in the state against the required 700. The Minister should refrain from giving such irresponsible statements and instead take some positive steps to improve the health infrastructure in the country, they said.