Proposal to develop medical colleges under PPP model opposed

Visakhapatnam: The proposal of the Andhra Pradesh government to develop 17 medical colleges under the public-private-partnership mode has become a cause of concern for various sections.

When the state Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav announced that the state government would initially develop 10 medical colleges out of 17 under the PPP model but retain the management rights with it, the proposal did not go down well with several associations as they expressed concern over the medical stream getting inaccessible for the poor.

Opposing the proposal, Praja Arogya Vedika (PAV) submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu appealing him to reconsider the decision of developing the government medical colleges under the PPP model and withdraw the proposal with immediate effect.

They felt that entrusting healthcare, medical education in particular, to private entities through a PPP model raises serious concerns about accessibility, affordability, and facilitating fundamental right to health for the citizens of AP.

The PAV submitted a representation, urging the government to reconsider the proposal. They emphasised that healthcare should remain firmly under the government control to ensure equitable access and prevent the commercialisation of essential services.

Privatisation of medical education will lead to increased costs, making it inaccessible to students belonging to economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and ultimately impacting the availability of affordable healthcare professionals.

The PPP model increases the risk of prioritising corporate profits over the public’s health, potentially leading to a decline in the quality and accessibility of healthcare service, president of PAV MV Ramanaiah and general secretary T Kameshwar Rao expressed concern.

Shifting resources and control to private entities will undermine the government’s ability to strengthen and expand the public healthcare system, they opined, adding that the state government should commit to investing adequate public funds to ensure establishment and maintenance of high-quality government-run medical colleges.