Patients’ rights must be primary

The decision by the health authorities to control the prices of medicinal drugs from the beginning of next year is a highly principled one in consideration of the primacy that must be attached to the well being of the people by the state. Pharmaceutical drugs importers and manufactures may have some points worth pondering on in connection with this issue but the government cannot veer from the view that the public interest must be uppermost on its mind.

Healthcare is a principal right of the people. Today, a robust public discourse on the rights of patients is on and this is based on the indisputable premise that the state in countries such as ours, should consider the perpetuation of the physical and mental health of the people as a fundamental duty. Since a great many medicinal drugs are beyond the people's affordability, the government, in a welfare-oriented state, is obliged to step in and control, at least to a degree, the prices of essential drugs.

At the heart of the state and public's concern over the prices of medicines is an ideological underpinning. Healthcare in countries such as ours has always been considered as almost a fundamental right of the people. This is the reason why it has been provided free by the state from the time of Independence. Thanks to the state-maintained healthcare system, the primary health needs of the people have been looked after a great deal and this has contributed towards the progressive development of our human resources.

If Sri Lanka is ranking high internationally from the point of view of the quality of life of the people, it is primarily because sectors, such as, the public healthcare system, have been generally operating without a hitch. However, although the public healthcare system has been in operation in its essentials over the decades, the current emergence of movements to protect the rights of patients indicates that despite such state-initiated healthcare measures, not all sections of the public have been in a position to secure the required assistance and medical wherewithal that ensure wholesomeness.

Apparently, the public healthcare system has not always been in a position to secure for the people, purse easy medicinal drugs and other requirements although the poorest of the poor have always been cared for by the state. It is with a view to catering more fully to the essential health needs of the people that price control of medicines is being envisioned by the state.

Market forces cannot be expected to deliver the most essential medicinal drugs at affordable prices to the totality of the public and this is why the state has been compelled to actively consider adopting as a model the Prof. Senaka Bibile proposals relating to the healthcare needs of the people.

There are no trouble-free ways of launching progressive measures of this kind. Reaction to the intended scheme is sure to be there and the government would need to carefully look at all the pros and cons of this initiative, together with considering the opinions of medicinal drugs importers and manufacturers, before forging ahead with their proposals for making healthcare affordable.

However, there is no denying that intervention by the state is necessary to protect the interests of the public and price control should not be frowned upon and misconstrued as a retrogressive move by those other stakeholders in the healthcare scene. For the majority of the people, state-assisted healthcare is a must and the government is obliged to accord to the public well being primary importance.

The hands of the state must be strengthened by the well-meaning in its efforts to fend for the people. These are matters the Opposition too must deeply ponder. Raucous protests on highways are not likely to be of much avail. Past UNP-led governments did much to undermine the welfare state system and the Opposition should pause to consider their contribution towards weakening the support systems of the people. Rather than mindlessly protest in the manner of rebels without a cause, they need to consider how best they could contribute towards the current discourse on protecting and enhancing the public's health and other needs.