Congress, BJP aid corporate hospitals by vilifying Kerala’s public health sector: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat has accused the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) of launching a vilification campaign against Kerala’s robust public health system to aid the corporate medical-care sector.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told a news conference here on Friday that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had sought to politicise the tragic building collapse at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kottayam, to paint a dismal picture of State-funded hospitals to help corporate hospitals corral patients. He said the building collapse occurred when the hospital authorities were moving patients to the newly constructed block. 

Mr. Govindan said global capital had “gobbled up” most legacy hospitals in the private sector, which had sacrificed medical ethics at the altar of profit-making.

He said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had sought to protect the working class from predatory medical practices by adding more super-specialty units, including liver and kidney transplant departments, to State-run hospitals.

Affordable care

He said the Government Medical College Hospitals had successfully conducted organ transplants at minimal rates. The service was provided at no cost to economically disadvantaged individuals. “In contrast, private corporate hospitals charged not less than ₹40 lakh for the life-saving procedures,” he said. 

Mr. Govindan said that an almost 50% increase in patient footfall at State-run hospitals had deprived the private sector of business. The Congress and the BJP had come to the aid of the corporate medical industry by seeking to demonise public health care.

Mr. Govindan said the private sector was appalled that the LDF had opened outpatient centres at primary health-care centres and created 2,430 new facilities, adding to the existing clinical services to make health care easily accessible and affordable for the public. The private sector had now found a partner in the Congress and the BJP, who were out to malign State-subsidised health care. 

‘UDF cut allocation’

Mr. Govindan said between 2011 and 2016, the Congress government had systematically slashed public health sector allocation from ₹139 crore to ₹116 crore. “The UDF had planned to privatise State-funded hospitals,” he added. In contrast, since 2021, the second LDF government had increased public health spending to ₹1,600 crore. Kerala’s health sector had won at least 21 national and international recognitions.

Mr. Govindan said the BJP government at the Centre punished Kerala for its public health achievements by reducing allocations as part of the Centre’s “vengeful politics.” The LDF balanced the books by raising ₹80,000 crore from the global market to modernise State-funded hospitals, which now offered state-of-the-art treatment on a par with developed nations. It also increased the Gross State Domestic Product to catalyse welfare and development, given the Centre’s attempt to financially strangulate Kerala.