Assam today became the first state in the country to enact a legislation that seeks to ensure right to health for every citizen.
The Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, which was unanimously passed in the Assembly today, makes it mandatory for all hospitals, both government and private, including nursing homes to provide free health care services, maintaining appropriate protocol of treatment, for the first 24 hours to an emergency patient.
During the discussion of the bill, the government also announced free surgery for children with holes in their hearts.
Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the children would be flown to Bangalore where they would be operated on at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital and then flown back home.
The state government will bear the entire expense of the surgery, he said. The scheme is likely to take effect from April.