Affordable healthcare is a fundamental right, the Supreme Court said on Friday, in a significant observation that also held the state responsible for ensuring the right and noted that the fight against COVID-19 was a "world war".
"Right to health is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Right to Health includes affordable treatment. Therefore, it is the duty upon the State to make provisions for affordable treatment," the court said.
A three-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah had taken up the issue of healthcare during the time of the pandemic on its own and also looked at instances where bodies of coronavirus casualties were not handled with dignity.
"Due to unprecedented pandemic, everybody in the world is suffering, one way or the other. It is a world war against COVID-19. Therefore, there shall be Government Public Partnership to avoid world war against COVID-19," the judges said.
"Either more and more provisions are to be made by the state government and the local administration or there shall be cap on the fees charged by the private hospitals which can be in exercise of the powers under the Disaster Management Act," they added.
"It cannot be disputed that for whatever reasons the treatment has become costlier and costlier and it is not affordable to the common people at all. Even if one survives from COVID-19, many times financially and economically he is finished," they said.
The court called for increased coronavirus testing and stressed on the need to declare correct data. "One must be transparent in number of testing and declaring the facts and figures of the persons who are Corona positive. Otherwise, the people will be misled and they will be under impression that everything is all right and they will become negligent," the judges said.
They also asked the government to step up fire safety measures in hospitals, issue guidelines for giving relief to doctors engaged in Covid duty and ensure political meetings follow Covid rules.
Supreme Court Hears NEET Case, Says It Has "Social Ramifications" "No Systemic Failure": Exam's Body On NEET-UG Paper Leak Row Top Court Concerned Over Political Influence, Revives Murder Case Against Ex MLA Why BJP Lost Lok Sabha Polls In Uttar Pradesh - 6 Reasons In Party Report Puja Khedkar's Father Was Suspended Twice On Extortion Complaints World's Largest Isolated Tribe Makes Rare Appearance In New Footage Supreme Court Hears NEET Case, Says It Has "Social Ramifications" Watch: Ashneer Grover's Reaction To 22-Year-Old's Monthly Earning Viral IIT Kanpur Introduces 'SATHEE SSC' Platform For Exam Preparation Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.