Veena George alleges UDF maligning Kerala healthcare system

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 8 (PTI) Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday claimed that deliberate attempts were being made to depict the healthcare system of the state in a bad light and accused the opposition Congress-led UDF of being at the forefront of it.

George expressed her willingness for a discussion on the health sector with the UDF and urged Leader of Opposition in the assembly V D Satheesan to participate.

"Let Kerala see and hear the facts," she said.

The minister's call for a discussion was brushed aside by Satheesan who told reporters later in the day that if the Chief Minister gives him the time and place for a talk, he will be there.

"The CM is not here currently. Once he comes back from the US, if he gives me a time and a place for discussion, I will go there. I am ready for that," he said when scribes sought his response to the Health Minister's call for talks.

Satheesan also said that George was correct when she said that the healthcare system was at fault.

"But it is a system created by them. The whole system has failed," he claimed.

He also referred to state Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cheriyan's recent remark praising private healthcare facilities and said the CPI(M) leader was trying to show that the government hospitals were no good even when K K Shailaja was the Health Minister.

"He was trying to save George's image by saying that the government hospitals were not good even when Shailaja was heading the Health department. It just came out in a different manner," the opposition leader said.

Cheriyan had credited private healthcare facilities for their services, recounting how one such hospital saved his life years ago when he fell critically ill with dengue fever after being treated at a government hospital.

Recounting a personal experience, Cheriyan had said that he was "almost dead due to the treatment at a government hospital" after being admitted for dengue fever in 2019.

"When I was almost dead due to the treatment at the government hospital, it was recommended to take me to Amrita Hospital. I had remained there unconscious for 14 days and was cured later," he had said.

The Health Minister's accusation against the UDF and a call for discussion with Satheesan came amidst the continuous demands for her resignation by the opposition over the death of a 52-year-old woman when a portion of the Kottayam Government Medical College building recently collapsed.

The opposition has also been criticising her over the disclosure by a government doctor regarding a lack of surgical equipment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.

The minister also claimed that besides the UDF, "unfortunately," some media groups were also part of such attempts.

She said that the facts regarding the health sector in the state were before everyone, and people have appreciated the changes in it in recent times.

Meanwhile, protests continued against the minister in the state, with black flags being shown to her at various places reportedly by the youth wing of the Congress. PTI