The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has released its “health manifesto” and urged all political parties to give priority to the health sector. The manifesto contains various suggestions, including improving in public health, changing policy directions, streamlining medical education and improving medical research.

‘Insufficient funding’

“There is insufficient funding in the healthcare sector and the GDP in healthcare is at a dismal rate of 1.2%. The out-of-pocket expenditure is one of the highest in our country and every year over 3.3 % people are pushed below poverty line due to expenditure on health. In order to improve the overall healthcare sector and cope up with the out-of-pocket expenses, the GDP must be increased to at least 5%,” said Santanu Sen, IMA national president.

Health campaign

The IMA announced that it will soon launch a nationwide health campaign to propagate the manifesto amongst the candidates, political parties and the public. “The local units of IMA will conduct public meetings and seminars to which the candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections will also be invited,’’ noted a release issued by the association.

R.V. Asokan, IMA secretary general noted that the primary and preventive care should be given top priority.

“Wellness centres have to be reconceived and they should to be manned by MBBS graduates. MBBS doctors are ready to work in rural areas and IMA can facilitate availability of manpower to the primary care centres. There should be recruitment boards to recruit MBBS graduates for primary care,” he further said.