The Supreme Court today refused to issue directions to nationalise the country's healthcare sector in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic..While hearing a plea seeking this relief, the Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Ravindra S Bhat stated,."We cannot order nationalisation of hospitals. Government has already taken over some hospitals.".The plea filed by Advocate Amit Dwivedi sought a direction from the Court to nationalize all facilities, institutes, companies and entities related to the healthcare sector in India till the pandemic COVID-19 is contained..It had also made a prayer for a direction to ensure that tests, procedures, and treatments in relation to the COVID-19 disease are made free of cost for all citizens of India till the pandemic subsides..Justice Bhushan on Monday told Dwivedi that his prayer to order nationalisation of private hospitals was "misconceived". The judge noted, however, that the second prayer for free testing for Coronavirus is tagged with another petition. He went on to say,."At this time, everyone is doing their work. The government is taking all kinds of effective steps for treatment of persons infected with COVID19.".Last week, the Supreme Court had directed that COVID-19 testing done by both government and private laboratories be free of cost..[Breaking] Make COVID-19 Testing free of cost in government and private labs: Supreme Court (Read Order).The genesis of the plea filed by Dwivedi lies in the difference in the cost of treatment incurred at government and private hospitals, and how the latter attract more patients compared to their government counterparts..The petitioner has also stated that reports indicating India’s unpreparedness to deal with the crisis were not correct, as in the last two to three decades itself, “India has emerged as a hub of medical tourism and today India accounts for 18% of the global market share of it”..The plea justifies the prayer for having all health facilities nationalized or offered free of cost during the COVID-19 pandemic by stating that India has been following global models to battle the outbreak of this pandemic, including imposing a nationwide lockdown to adapt to social distancing measures. The fact that some foreign countries too have nationalized their health sectors has also been cited as a ground.
The Supreme Court today refused to issue directions to nationalise the country's healthcare sector in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic..While hearing a plea seeking this relief, the Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Ravindra S Bhat stated,."We cannot order nationalisation of hospitals. Government has already taken over some hospitals.".The plea filed by Advocate Amit Dwivedi sought a direction from the Court to nationalize all facilities, institutes, companies and entities related to the healthcare sector in India till the pandemic COVID-19 is contained..It had also made a prayer for a direction to ensure that tests, procedures, and treatments in relation to the COVID-19 disease are made free of cost for all citizens of India till the pandemic subsides..Justice Bhushan on Monday told Dwivedi that his prayer to order nationalisation of private hospitals was "misconceived". The judge noted, however, that the second prayer for free testing for Coronavirus is tagged with another petition. He went on to say,."At this time, everyone is doing their work. The government is taking all kinds of effective steps for treatment of persons infected with COVID19.".Last week, the Supreme Court had directed that COVID-19 testing done by both government and private laboratories be free of cost..[Breaking] Make COVID-19 Testing free of cost in government and private labs: Supreme Court (Read Order).The genesis of the plea filed by Dwivedi lies in the difference in the cost of treatment incurred at government and private hospitals, and how the latter attract more patients compared to their government counterparts..The petitioner has also stated that reports indicating India’s unpreparedness to deal with the crisis were not correct, as in the last two to three decades itself, “India has emerged as a hub of medical tourism and today India accounts for 18% of the global market share of it”..The plea justifies the prayer for having all health facilities nationalized or offered free of cost during the COVID-19 pandemic by stating that India has been following global models to battle the outbreak of this pandemic, including imposing a nationwide lockdown to adapt to social distancing measures. The fact that some foreign countries too have nationalized their health sectors has also been cited as a ground.
