Privatisation of Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences opposed

Visakhapatnam: The Human Rights Forum (HRF) strongly opposed the decision of the State government to handover various departments of the Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) to private entities under public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The HRF demanded for immediate revoke of GO No 33 that seeks to facilitate privatisation of the VIMS.

The VIMS was established with a view to cater to the medical and health needs of people of backward north Andhra region and neighbouring states. However, the government wants to privatise the institute from the very beginning.

Faced with opposition from the people, it stalled the privatisation efforts in 2016, but went ahead and approved the PPP mode for the dialysis, radiology and diagnostic centres. Now, the government is trying to privatise more departments through the PPP route, the HRF opined.

Addressing media, HRF, Visakhapatnam district president and secretaries M Sarat and N N Srinivasa Rao said that GO No 33 states that since there was scope to open new services in the VIMS, the governing body of the hospital was of the opinion that the expansion could be undertaken through the PPP mode.

It is worth recalling that VIMS was set up to make medical and health services affordable and accessible to the people of this region. But, the government has never allocated requisite funds to fulfil these objectives.

The new GO stating that private players would garner the Rs 100 crore needed to develop VIMS while the state government need not pitch in with any investment. The government has jettisoned its welfare responsibilities in respect of developing and running of the VIMS and is seeking to burden the common people with fees and user charges. This is totally unacceptable, Sarat said.

The government has also been deliberately neglecting to appoint doctors and staff to the VIMS. Doctors from KGH in Visakhapatnam, government hospitals in Kakinada, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Tirupati and Guntur are working at the VIMS on deputation.

At an average 800 out-patients and 125 in-patients are utilising medical services at the VIMS every day. But, there are merely 40 doctors and 35 nurses and over the past several days many doctors are not even attending duties, since they have gone back to their parent institutes given the instructions by the Medical Council of India in the light of the MS entrance examinations, the HRF leaders alleged and demanded to withdraw the GO No 33 immediately.