Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
(1) Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department have the following general obligations at all times, within the limits of their available resources, towards the progressive realization of health and well being of every person in the state (a) Undertake app opriate and adequate budgetary measures, to the extent possible as per the globally accepted norms, to satisfy, the obligations and rights set out herein, for ensuring planning and rational allocation and distribution of resources for various health and health related issues and concerns ; (b) Provide access to health care services and ensure that there shall not be any denial of health care directly or indirectly, to anyone, by any health care service provider, public or private, including for profit and not for profit service providers, by laying down minimum standards and appropriate regulatory mechanism; Provided that notwithstanding the above, the Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department shall have a duty to prioritize the most vulnerable and marginalized persons and groups, who are unable themselves to access the means for adequate and appropriate health care services, and ensuring them at least the minimum conditions of health care, (2) Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department, in order to meet its obligation, shall coordinate with other relevant departments for providing,- (a) access to the minimum essential food which is nutritionally adequate; (b) adequate supply of safe drinking water; (c) sanitation through appropriate and effective sewerage and drainage systems, waste disposal and management systems, pollution control systems, control of ecological degradation, control of insects and rodents and other carriers of infections, addressing practices resulting in unhygienic disposal of human excreta and refuse, consumption of unhygienic water or food and through other measures; (d) access to basic housing and access to basic facilities. 988--------------- THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, MAY 7,2010__________ . Other 4 obligations of the State Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department 1 (3) Government in the I leakh and Family Welfare Department shall also carry out the following as their obligations to ensure health and well being of all (a) safeguard the rights related to health care as laid down under this A ct; (b) take effective measures to prevent, treat and control epidemic and endemic diseases ; (c) lay down specific standards and norms for safety and quality assurance of ail aspects of health care including health care services and processes, treatment protocols, infrastructure, equipment, drugs, health care providers, within the Government, private and other non-governmert sectors: Provided that the Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department shall endeavour to adopt for itself the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) for the Health Institutions under its control and the Semi Government as well as Private Nursing Homes / Health establishments etc. and may review and expand such standards in scope and contents to suit the needs of the State of Assam; (d) provide education and access to information concerning the mam health issues to the communities, including methods of preventing and controlling them, and promoting healthy lifestyles, through sustained, and regularly updated national, State and local level 1EC programmes; (e) expand mother and child health including reproductive health care for universal coverage at the earliest; (f) provide appropriate and best available preventive measures against the major infectious diseases occurring in communities ; and (g) take effective measures in situations of public health emergencies; Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department shall take appropriate legal steps, including, where necessary, enactment of laws, or review or amend existing public health related laws, and/or strict implementation of laws, but in any case, through its powers to issue rules and orders under this Act, to specifically address the following (a) fixing responsibility and accountability of concerned departments/agencies in case of repeated outbreaks or recurrence of communicable, viral and waterborne diseases which are found in a particular area and proved to be due to failure to improve sanitation and safe drinking water facilities; (b) public health emeigencies of national concerns ; THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, MAY 7,2010 989 (c) registration i f births and deaths and other vital statistics for health; (d) food safety in the hospitals and health establishments managed by the Government; (e) safety, availability and accessibility of drugs, rational use of drugs and monitoring of drug resistance ; (f) population stabilization and family planning ; (g) regulation of Health establishments and all the facilities providing health services ; (h) prevention of Health nuisances and implementation of bio-medical waste disposal; (i) availability and accessibility of safe drinking water in the hospitals and l ealth establishments ; (j) sanitation and environmental hygiene, including waste management for every kind of waste in the hospitals and health establishments ; (k) health Impact Assessment (HIA) of all new development projects ; (l) lifestyle related diseases; mental illness, widely prevalent diseases; public health related factors like use of tobacco, alcoholism and other substance abuse, and consumption of unhealthy foods; and promotion of healthy lifestyles like breast feeding, health seeking behaviour, balanced diet, regular exercise, food and water safety, including with regard to their packaging, labeling, advertising and sales and consumer protection, including regulating advertising and taxation and excise policies that have impact on these ; (m) identify various types of health institutions including Tea garden hospitals available in the State and prescribe services to be provided by them; (n) specify the class or group of patients who will be given free treatment in private health establishments ; (o) provision of Geriatric/Palliative care/Mother and Child care and Trauma/Emergency care: Provided that all hospitals or Health establishments of the State whether Government or Private including Private Nursing Homes shall have to provide free health care services maintaining appropriate protocol of treatment for first 24 hours to an emergency patient of any kind. (p) early universalisation of coverage of immunization for mother and child ; (q) formation of Patient Welfare Societies (Rogi Kalyan Samiti) for various categories of Health Institutions ; (r) promotion of Indian Systems of medicine(ISM) ; (s) to devise, adopt, implement, and periodically review, health policies, strategies and plans of action, on the basis of epidemiological, sociological and environmental evidence, addressing the health 990 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, MAY 7, 2010 concerns of the vhole population; (t) prescribe retried al measures in case a patient fails to receive attention in a Government hospital/health establishment be ause of absence of the Doctors or any other medical staff; (u) suggest and prescribe suitable schedule of inspection of Government/private health institutions by various health functionaries; CHAPTER-11I COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS IN RELATION TO HEALTH Right to Health