HC asks state govt to heed suggestions on improving healthcare facilities

SHILLONG, March 30: The division bench of the High Court of Meghalaya on Wednesday asked the state government to look into the suggestions made to the high-powered committee being formed for the purpose of improving healthcare facilities across the state and not use the constraint of funds as an excuse to not have a basic healthcare system in place extending across the breadth of the state, particularly in rural areas.
The Division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh directed the government to indicate concrete steps taken for setting up healthcare centres and augmenting the facilities at the existing ones to provide a basic infrastructure for healthcare which is woefully short at the moment.
“Both the long-term and the immediate short-term measures need to be indicated, preferably, upon obtaining expert advice in such regard,” the order said.
Observing that some recent efforts have been made to improve the healthcare system, the Court said a lot more needs to be done by the government.
The division bench observed that the problem in the healthcare system cannot be seen in isolation and there may be several other areas that need immediate attention, adding that the mere setting up of healthcare centres would be useless unless there is access thereto.
“Access implies the construction of roads and in some parts of the State, as noticed in a matter pertaining to the Phulbari and Demdema areas of the West Garo Hills, even the basic roads from the District headquarters to the sub-divisional headquarters are not in place,” the court said.
The Court observed that ambulances need to be acquired in adequate numbers and medical facilities be made available closer to the villages, in addition to the facilities in the towns being augmented.
“There are several other matters pending which could be said to be connected, including a matter pertaining to the abnormal number of deaths, both of mothers and newborns, during the lockdown for alleged lack of medical facilities to cater to their needs in the wake of the pandemic. There is a further matter pertaining to the setting up of a specialised cancer treatment centre in the state, since the incidence of cancer is higher in the state than the national average and the consumption of tobacco and betel nuts is a part of the daily habit of most residents of the state,” the order said.