PHM-Exch> Right to Health activities by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (PHM-India)

[Claudio Schuftan]

*Note on Right to Health activities by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (PHM-India)*

*during recent period*





Since its formation following the ‘National Health Assembly’ in 2000, within
Jan

Swasthya Abhiyan (PHM-India) there has been a strong perspective to oppose
the

weakening of public health systems, to make health systems accountable and
effective,

to counter commercialization of health care, and to ensure access to health
care for

all within a broader ‘Right to health’ framework. Although not always
adopting an

explicit ‘Right to health’ terminology, a wide range of activities have been
carried out by

JSA in various states towards demanding the right to health care, as well as
ensuring the

right to various determinants of health. In this note, certain major
activities carried out by

JSA in a broadly ‘Right to health / health care’ framework are briefly
mentioned to give

some background. Then reports of certain recent activities carried out by
JSA, mainly

by state units towards promotion of health rights are presented as an
exemplification

of ‘Right to health’ activities by JSA in recent period.



JSA had an organized a national ‘Right to health care campaign’ in 2003-04
which

included organisation of a national public consultation, documentation of
cases of denial

of health care, surveys of rural public health facilities, local ‘Jan
Sunwais’ (public

hearings) in some states, regional public hearings in all regions of the
country followed

by a national public hearing on Health rights, the last two in collaboration
with the

National Human Rights Commission.



It may be noted that JSA state units also have played an active role in the
nationwide

‘Right to food campaign’ since its inception in 2002, considering food
security and

nutrition to be key determinants of Health.



Following the first phase of the Right to health care campaign in 2003-04,
due to a

combination of factors including a change of government at the national
level, the

situation regarding the public health system in India has been somewhat
modified.

A ‘National Rural Health Mission’ (NRHM) was launched by the Union
government

in 2005, which has proposed increased public health financing as well as
strengthening

of rural public health facilities. In this situation, JSA’s health rights
activities entered

a new phase, attempting to shape NRHM in a pro-people manner while trying to

assess to what extent the proposed improvements were actually being
implemented in

form of conducting a ‘People’s Rural Health Watch’ in seven states during
2006-08.



Further, there has been advocacy by JSA associated activists to give
institutional

and regular form to health rights activities and from 2007 onwards, JSA
member

organisations in some states have been involved in developing ‘Community
based

monitoring of health services’. This activity which is built into NRHM and
is supported

by the public health system, involves participatory monitoring of health
rights by

community members and civil society organisations, including regular
preparation of

community ‘report cards’, discussing the required improvements in
multi-stakeholder

monitoring committees, and periodic conduction of public hearings on health
rights.

Although it is strictly speaking not an activity of JSA groups alone, JSA
groups and

individuals have played and continue to play a central role in this activity
in various

states.



Along with this, some specific health rights initiatives are currently being
organised in

certain states, such as campaigning for primary health services, opposition
to privatization of rural public health services or public health
facilities, and demanding patient’s rights in the private medical sector.



Examples of certain recent activities by JSA state units and member
organisations in a ‘Right to health’ framework are as follows:



a . Ongoing ‘Right to Primary Health care’ campaign by PHM-Karnataka.

b . Right to essential medicines and free treatment campaign initiated by
Prayas and

PHM-Rajasthan.

c . Campaigning for establishing people’s rights in the private medical
sector, particularly patients rights by PHM-Maharashtra.

d . Organised monitoring and demanding of people’s health rights from the
rural public

health system in form of ‘Community based monitoring of health services’
(CBM)

– where JSA associated organisations are presently playing a central role in
the states of

Maharashtra and Rajastan.

e. PHM organisations in Tamil Nadu are also centrally involved in organizing

community based monitoring, along with carrying out various other activities
around

the Right to Health.

f. CBM activities were initiated in some other states like Madya Pradesh.,
Orissa also, but have been presently discontinued due to negative attitude
of State health authorities.



This gives some idea about the range of activities concerning ‘Right to
Health’ being carried out in the recent period by PHM-India units and
organisations in some states.
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