Thiruvananthapuram, The Keralam government has been asked to appoint public health expert Dr S S Lal as a special rapporteur-cum-monitor to study issues facing the state’s healthcare sector and suggest remedial measures, the SHRC said.
The director of the National Health Mission should provide another expert based on Lal’s recommendation, it added.
Commission chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas said Lal, a former consultant with the World Health Organisation and a person with international recognition, would be able to study the various challenges confronting the state’s healthcare sector and submit long-term recommendations. “A time may come when treatment at private healthcare centres may not be available without insurance,” the order said. Lal should hold discussions with various state-level agencies and officials, study the issues in depth and submit an interim report containing his observations, assessment and recommendations to the commission within two months, it said. He may seek the assistance of Dr Altaf, a professor in the Department of Community Medicine at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College, the commission said.
