THIS year, the Sundarayya Memorial Lecture was organised on the theme, ‘Health Sector – Current Situation – Solutions’. The programme was organised at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram on May 19 in connection with the 31st death anniversary of Comrade Puchalapalli Sundarayya, founder general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Professor K Srinatha Reddy, chairman of Public Health Foundation of India, delivered the memorial lecture. He stressed on the need for strengthening primary health care and on introducing universal health care scheme all over the country to ensure medicare for all.  B V Raghavulu, chairman of SVK Trust and member of the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M), Tammineni Veerabhadram, secretary of the Trust and of Telangana state committee of the CPI(M) and S Vinaya Kumar, secretary of the managing committee of SVK, besides the recipient of Padma Bhushan award, Prof Srinatha Reddy, garlanded the portrait of Com Sundarayya and paid homage to him.

Recollecting his acquaintance with Com Sundarayya, Srinatha Reddy referred to the life of sacrifice of Sundarayya dedicated to the cause of the people. Explaining that several conditions in the society show their impact on the health of the people, he pointed out that in countries where inequalities have been on the higher side, there, the life span of the people has decreased and death rate of mothers and children has increased. To provide facilities of public health to all, reforms in the economy, ensuring adequate allocation and expenditure of funds for primary health care, provision for nutritious food, controlling pollution, improving basic amenities and infrastructure, providing protected drinking water supply and sanitation are very much required, he said. Availability of services of medicare to the people would be proportionate to the level of strengthening facilities of primary health services, he said.  Making it clear that medical field does not mean big hospitals, attractive buildings and doctors alone, Srinatha Reddy suggested introduction of universal health schemes in the country and paying higher attention to strengthening and widening medical services at primary level to ensure improved medicare to all.

Pointing out that the medical field in the country has been weak, Srinatha Reddy suggested provision for free supply of medicines and clinical tests, without user charges, in government hospitals. Pointing out that health insurance schemes would not service the purpose, he stressed on strengthening medicare in the government sector, using the private sector as an affiliate.Only through a movement of the people, such improved medical services would be available to the people, Srinatha Reddy made it clear.

Raghavulu, who presided over the meeting, said that though governments are being replaced through elections, the basic problems of the people have been continuing as they used to be. The view that the fields of education and medicine would improve, if only development takes place, is not correct, he said. Quoting Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Raghavulu pointed out that any country which achieved progress in health of its people would progress in all fields. The chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been neglecting primary health fields, while claiming to develop the states as centres of international health tourism, Raghavulu said. The aim of the Marxists is to see that the people become educated and can access total health care and the Communists should work in that direction, Veerabhadram said. The ultimate aim is to ensure education and health to all, he said.

Later, Prof Srinatha Reddy inaugurated a public health clinic at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram. Vinaya Kumar explained that the clinic has been started by the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram with a view to bring primary medicare within the reach of the people, even though this is on a limited scale, with a nominal consultation fee of Rs 25, and it is there is a shop of generic medicines attached to it.