New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Friday that it is a world war against Covid-19, which needs government-public partnership to make Covid treatment affordable for the common people. The top court emphasised that fundamental right to health includes affordable treatment.
A bench headed by justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising Justices R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah said: “Right to health is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Right to health includes affordable treatment. Therefore, it is the duty of the state to make provisions for affordable treatment and see that more and more provisions in the hospitals to be run by the state and/or local administration are made.”
The top court noted that it cannot be disputed that for whatever reasons, treatment has become costlier and costlier and it is not affordable to the common people at all. Even if one survives from Covid-19, many times he is finished financially and economically.
The bench insisted that the state government and the local administration should ensure that a cap is fixed on the fees charged by the private hospitals, which can be in exercise of the powers under the Disaster Management Act.
“Due to the unprecedented pandemic, everybody in the world is suffering in one way or the other. It is a world war against Covid-19. Therefore, there should be government-public partnership to end the world war against Covid-19,” said the top court.
The observation was made by the top court in a suo moto case for proper treatment of Covid-19 patients and dignified handling of dead bodies in the hospitals.
Citing that despite guidelines and SOPs, the pandemic has spread like wild fire, the top court said that every state must act vigilantly and work with the Centre harmoniously.
“It is time to rise to the occasion. Safety and health of the citizens must be the first priority, rather than any other considerations,” observed the top court.
