Invitation
31st Annual Meet of Medico Friend Circle
(MFC)
21st and 22nd January, 2005
The Medico Friend Circle (MFC) is an all-India
group of socially conscious
individuals from diverse backgrounds, who have come
together with a common
concern for health. Members of the MFC are
primarily medical, public health
and social science professionals, researchers as
well as community health
and gender activists. For more than 30 years, MFC
has critically analysed
the existing health care system and has tried to
evolve an appropriate
approach towards health care that is humane and
which can meet the needs of
the vast majority of people in the
country.
The MFC Annual Meet 2005 is going to be held
at Mumbai between 21st and
22nd January 2005. The Annual General Body meet is
on Sunday, i.e. 23rd, at
the same venue.
The theme for the annual meet is Right to
Healthcare. Among health
activists, there is a broad consensus about the
need for strengthening
public health, and for greater accountability of
the public health system.
The question is how to work towards this end.
Lately, an approach of viewing
health and health care as a right has been gaining
considerable momentum.
Such an approach has the potential to put pressure
on the public health
system to improve its functioning and make it more
accountable. However,
while there is a need to acknowledge the strengths
of the rights approach,
we believe that it is also necessary to critically
examine its limitations
in an inherently unequal society like ours, in
order to come up with a
balanced, yet effective strategy to confront the
problems facing the health
scenario in our country today.
The meet will address some of the following
issues:
Conceptual issues regarding the Rights approach:
Limitations and
contradictions of the Rights approach; alternative
perspectives regarding
the Rights approach
Conceptual issues regarding the Right to Health
Care; the relation between
Right to Health and Right to Health
Care
Political economy of Right to Health Care in
India today
Historical experiences of Right to Health Care in
other countries;
examples of universal access systems in South
Africa, Canada, Costa Rica,
Australia, Cuba, China, etc.
Administrative issues - how to address corruption
within the public health
system, callousness, negligence and attitudinal
problems in the public
sector, how to ensure public health care providers
are responsive to
patients etc.; patientsΉ concerns and redressal
mechanisms
Role of private sector and NGOs in delivery of
health care
Protection of specific health rights of various
vulnerable sections such
as women, children, HIV-AIDS affected, disabled,
mentally ill, etc.
Content and operationalisation of the Right to
Health Care in the Indian
context
Legal issues: National Public Health Act, making
Right to Health Care a
fundamental Constitutional right
Financial provisions in achieving universal
access to Health Care
Integration and inclusion of other
systems
We invite background papers based on the above
themes. The last date of
submission is October 30, 2004. A concept note on
the theme by Dr. Abhay
Shukla has already been
circulated.
We invite you to attend the meeting and contribute
to the discussions with
your valuable experience. The venue and other
details will be circulated
soon. Please note, MFC is not a funded network.
Hence, participants are
requested to bear their travel, boarding and
lodging. However, we will
organize accommodation for participants at
reasonable rates.
For details about submission of papers and
participation in the meet, please
contact:
N. B. Sarojini,
Convenor, Medico Friend Circle,
G-19, 2nd Floor, Saket,
New Delhi 110017.
E-mail: saromfc@vsnl.net
Ph: +91 11 26562401,
55637632