The Meghalaya High Court today said that mere setting up of healthcare centres would be useless unless there is access to the facility.
During hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) on deficiencies in health services in the State, the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh said that access implies the construction of roads.
“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 High Court said.
It also said 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 High Court observed.
Senior lawyer S P Mahanta who filed the PIL told the court that several suggestions have been put forward to the State government after a high-powered committee was formed for the purpose.
The High Court asked the State government to seriously look into the suggestions and not to use 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.
“As has been recently repeated by this court, the problem in the healthcare system cannot be seen in isolation and there may be several other areas that need immediate attention,” it said.
Asking the State 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, the High Court also sought to know both the long-term and the immediate short-term measures preferably, upon obtaining expert advice in such regard. The next hearing on the matter will be on April 27.
