Right to healthcare a basic human right: SC judge

Justice Indira Banerjee of the Supreme Court on Sunday described the right to healthcare as a basic human right while inaugurating a telemedicine center in Kolkata.

The telemedicine consultation center in Kolkata's Elliot Road, the first Teladoc clinic in India, will be operated by Meenakshi Mission Hospital of Madurai.

''Right to healthcare is a basic human right and I hope that people of West Bengal and the neighboring states will benefit by the starting of Teladoc here in Kolkata,'' Justice Banerjee said.

Teladoc is considered the world's most advanced telemedicine platform, and the Kolkata center is its seventh globally, an official of the hospital said.

Justice Banerjee said that during the pandemic, there has been a spurt in the use of computers and even the courts had to function virtually.

She said that as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, she had to go to Madurai once a month as the high court has a bench in southern Tamil Nadu city.

Justice Banerjee said that in Madurai, she had the opportunity to visit the hospital's children's cancer section and had got engulfed in emotion.

''But the treatment that was being meted out was indeed impressive, the hospital was neat and clean, the doctors had a humane approach,'' she said.

She said that patients from West Bengal and other eastern states go to south India for treatment of various ailments.

The trouble of travel and putting up there during treatment can now be avoided to an extent as tests are done here by a computer, she said.

Teladoc will allow patients in Kolkata to consult directly with doctors from 45 different specialties of the hospital for diagnosis, consultation, and treatment, the official said.

It will help patients avoid unnecessary travel and connect with experts from various specialties through the whole-person virtual care facility, the hospital's chairman Dr. S Gurushankar said.

''After consulting with the doctor via Teladoc and based on the diagnosis, patients can visit the hospital in Madurai to receive specialized treatment and surgeries,'' he said.