Pune: NGOs & trade unions join hands to resolve pending healthcare issues

PUNE: Various NGOs and social organizations have joined hands to raise issues plaguing the Maharashtra’s public healthcare system.

The forum aims to bring about a change by creating a pressure group to fill vacant posts, streamline the flow of essential medicines and prevent privatization of public health services, among many other issues.

“The organizations have been trying to improve services. By joining hands, we aim to invest in a concerted effort to create a pressure group to bring in positive changes in public healthcare services,” said Abhijit More of Jan Aarogya Abhiyaan.

The joint initiative, Alliance for Defence of Health Services and Rights, will focus on strengthening public health services and defending rights of people availing public healthcare services. It will also address issues of employees involved in dispensing services.

The alliance will be formally launched on November 26. “We have organized a convention, Nirdhaar Parishad, in Mumbai on Monday, where the alliance will be launched formally,” said Suman Tilekar, secretary of the Maharashtra Government Nurses Federation.

The convention will also finalize the key demands to be taken up and initiate a sustained movement to resolve various long-pending issues related to health rights of the public as well as rights of health sector employees.

“This will be done by developing a statewide campaign and meeting various political parties and representatives during the run up to the national and state elections,” said medical officer Manoj Khomane, president of Maharashtra Association of Gazetted Medical Officers.