Health equity

Yet, just last month an elderly man is reported to have died in the car park of a public hospital and for many the appalling conditions at Port of Spain General are a lived experience.

A news report on Monday described scenarios that are grossly in breach of basic occupational safety and health requirements, particularly for a hospital, including “manholes in the radiology department” and “leaking raw sewerage.” It goes without saying that no health institution should find itself in such a state of disrepair.

The news story also suggested that there was an increase in the number of patients, possibly because of shortages of drugs or, worse, poor quality drugs. Luckily for some there are alternative private institutions to which one can go should the need arise. I would imagine, however, that with the downturn in the economy, the capacity of “the some” to access healthcare is significantly reduced. We forget, it seems, that we are all equally entitled to a right to health. Furthermore, it makes good development sense to invest in health. Strictly speaking, “the human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment.” Needless to say, the State must provide for its citizens as best it can, either through provision of affordable services or ensuring access to services through the provision of healthcare insurance schemes.

An economic downturn is not cause for healthcare to become the dividing line that separates the “haves” from the “have-nots.” Nothing will undermine the infamous “buffer” faster than watching loved ones suffer for lack of basic care that remains available to those at the other end of the social spectrum.

At the end of the day, health is central to building a productive workforce, stimulating economic activity and generally promoting constructive social interaction.

I have preached on this issue of the right to health before, so lest I sound like the lone voice demanding greater emphasis on a human rights-based approach to economic and development planning, I have reproduced for ease of reference a relevant excerpt from the Government’s Vision 2030: “Theme 1, Putting People First: Nurturing our Greatest Asset, “acknowledges that our citizens are central to our development and in fact are our greatest assets. We must create a society in which all the basic needs are met and each individual is valued and given the opportunity to contribute and to self-actualise.

“We must ensure that our society evolves into one in which no one is left behind, where all citizens are afforded equal opportunity to access social services, and all our citizens, including the most vulnerable such as our children and youth, are cared for and treated with dignity and respect.

“The focus here is also on providing a nurturing environment that teaches, promotes and reinforces behaviours and skills needed to empower our people to become creative and productive citizens.

This means that we must eradicate poverty and inequity, discrimination, economic and social marginalisation, disease and poor health and substandard living conditions.

“We must build a society that shares the social attributes and cultural norms of trust, goodwill, honesty, respect, tolerance, integrity, benevolence, civic pride, social justice and community spirit.” It is difficult to come to terms with the disconnect between this vision and the deplorable images of a dilapidated public hospital in the country’s capital city.