It will take an independent inquiry to establish why children perished at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur between August 7 and 11. After all, the company that supplied the oxygen had issued notice to the hospital on large unpaid bills, warning of a crisis. Previous State governments have done little to address this problem, but that cannot be Mr. Adityanath’s response to the tragedy. They trail even other developing economies, such as neighbouring Thailand and some African countries, in moving to universal health care. Such a system should be non-commercial and regulated to contain costs, giving everyone affordable access to doctors, diagnostics and treatment.

Source: The Hindu August 14, 2017 00:42 UTC