On Friday, March 9, 2018 the five-judge Constitution Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) chaired by Dipak Misra, the Chief Justice of India, pronounced its judgment (1) (henceforth CC ...judgment) granting, for the first time in India, legal recognition to "advanced medical directives" or "living wills", ie, a person's decision communicated in advance on withdrawal of life-saving treatment under certain conditions, which should be respected by the treating doctor/s and the hospital. It also reiterates the legal recognition of the right to "passive euthanasia"; and draws upon Article 21 - the right to life - of the Constitution of India (henceforth Constitution) (2) interpreting robustly that the "right to life" includes the "right to die with dignity". Justices Misra and Khanwilkar disposed of the writ petition filed in 2005 by Common Cause (3) (henceforth CC petition) saying, "The directive and guidelines shall remain in force till the Parliament brings a legislation in the field" (1:p 192).
The theme of the joint 14th World Congress of Bioethics and 7th National Bioethics Conference Congress "Health for all in an unequal world: Obligations of global bioethics" is of critical relevance ...in the present global context. Although the world is better off in terms of improved health status of people by many measures than before, there exist colossal gaps across and within populations. Much needs to be done to respond to the lack of access to healthcare, poor quality of living and working conditions, and deteriorating quality of overall environment which affects more adversely the already deprived. We take this opportunity to make a few observations about the current status of affairs on this front, and offer brief analytical insights into the complex origins of the global health scenario characterised by disparities. We revisit the original conception of bioethics and suggest that it is well placed to respond to the current global crisis of inexorably widening disparities in health and wealth, and that global bioethics has an obligation to engage with this crisis.
Justice for Payal Tadvi Medico Friend Circle
Economic and political weekly,
06/2019
Journal Article, Magazine Article
Since the time she joined, she was harassed by the other doctors, two of whom she had to initially share a room with. The institutional authorities should be held accountable and strict action be ...taken against them. ...given the widespread and institutionalised forms of caste oppression among medical professionals, we demand that a large-scale public inquiry be conducted in various medical colleges and healthcare institutions to examine this issue in depth. The rising majoritarian discourse and practice today particularly demands the need for urgent and proactive steps in educational institutions against casteism and discrimination, and the instilling of an understanding of the continued need for affirmative action that is founded on human rights and constitutional guarantees.
The draft National Health Policy 2015 is an improvement over its predecessors—the policies of 1984 and 2002. However, it also reveals several gaps, inconsistencies and blind spots which tend to ...dilute otherwise constructive proposals. The purpose of this article is to open up the draft to further public debate and comment.
