During the monsoon months, when vector and water-borne diseases sweep through Barwani, the 400-bed district hospital overflows with patients, with many huddling on the floor.
Throughout the year, beds are scarce in the government-run hospital – the only major health facility that most people in this Adivasi belt in south-west Madhya Pradesh can afford to access.
The scarcity could soon grow worse.
The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allocate a quarter of the beds in all district hospitals that it runs to private organisations, who will then set up medical colleges. Urban development minister Kailash Vijaywargiya said this has been done to incentivise the private sector to invest in healthcare and improve hospital infrastructure – a recommendation first made by the central government think tank Niti Aayog.
But health activists fear that this would adversely impact healthcare access for the poor. While public hospitals are bound to provide free treatment, the private organisations have been allowed to charge fees on 25% of hospital beds.
At the Barwani district hospital, the new rule means that 100 of the total 400 beds will no longer be available for free treatment. “If the available [free] beds are reduced, where will poor patients go?” asked Amulya Nidhi, health activist with Jan Swasthya Abhiyan….
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