This demand was made by the NGO national chief, Dr Abhijit Vaidya, in the backdrop of the recent fire tragedy at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata.
Arogya Sena, the well-known voluntary agency working in the health sector, has demanded that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) conduct a survey of all hospitals in the city and suspend licences of those that do not have fire-fighting mechanisms.
This demand was made by the non-governmental organisation’s (NGO) national chief, Dr Abhijit Vaidya, on Sunday in the backdrop of the recent fire tragedy at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata, where the death toll rose to 92 on Sunday.
Arogya Sena had organised an ‘Arogya Adalat’ in the backdrop of the Kolkata tragedy to discuss how safe Pune’s hospitals are and whether such tragedies could be averted in the future.
Speaking at the event, Vaidya said, “Apart from one or two hospitals in the city, most are not at all safe for patients as they do not have fire-fighting mechanisms. The building structure of many hospitals is also faulty and it will be very difficult to evacuate patients from those hospitals if such an incident takes place there.”
Arogya Sena has demanded that the PMC carry out a survey of all hospitals in the city to check whether they are capable of fighting a fire. “The PMC should survey all the big and small hospitals in the city through its health and fire departments. Licences of those hospitals that do not have such a mechanism should be suspended and the authorities fined for negligence,” Vaidya said.
Opposing privatisation of hospitals, he said the government is trying to privatise Sassoon General Hospital like AMRI, which was privatised in 1996.
“We are against the privatisation of hospitals. The government cannot shed its responsibility. Arogya Sena has its branches in seven states and in all these states we will make sure that the state and local governments implement fire rules in all hospitals strictly and punish the defaulters,” Vaidya added.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}