Assam Public Health Act, 2010

No: 12 Dated: May, 07 2010

THE ASSAM PUBLIC HEALTH ACT, 2010

ASSAM ACT NO. XII OF 2010

    An Act to provide for protection and fulfillment of rights in relation to health and well- being, health equity and justice, including those related to all the underlying departments of health as well as health care and for achieving the goal of health for all and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

    Preamble:- Whereas every human being is entitled to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and well-being, conducive to living a life in dignity;

    And whereas right to health is an inclusive right extending not only to timely and appropriate health care but also to the underlying socio-economic. cultural and environmental determinants of health;

    And whereas the persisting inequities and denials in the matter of health in the State are a concern to all;

    And whereas there is also a need to set a broad legal framework for providing essential public services and functions, including powers to respond to public health emergencies;

    It is hereby enacted in the Sixty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

CHAPTER-I

PRELIMINARY

1. Short title, extent and commencement:- (1) This Act may be called the Assam Public Health Act, 2010.

(2) It extends to the whole of Assam.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint.

2. Definitions:- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a) "affordable” means that which can be secured by every person without reducing that person’s capacity to acquire other essential goods and sei vices, including food, water, sanitation, housing, health services and education;

(b) “capacity to consent” means ability of an individual, including a minor or a person with mental disability, assessed by the relevant health service provider on an objective basis, to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a proposed health care or of a proposed disclosure of health related information, and to make an informed decision in relation to such health care or disclosure ;

(c) “communicable diseases” means illness caused by microorganisms and transmissible from an infected person or animal to another person or animal;

(d) “endemic” means diseases prevalent in or peculiar to a particular locality, region, or people ;

(e) “epidemic” means occurrence of cases of disease in excess of what is usually expected for a given period of time, and includes any reference to‘’disease outbreak” ;

(f) “Government” means the Government of Assam ;

(g) “health care” means testing, treatment, care, procedures and any other service or intervention towards a therapeutic, nursing, rehabilitative, palliative, convalescent, preventive, diagnostic, and/or other health related purpose or combinations thereof, including reproductive health care and emergency medical treatment, in any system of medicine ;

(h) “health care establishment” means the whole or part of a public or private institution, facility, building or place, whether for profit or not, that is operated to provide inpatient and/or outpatient health care, and a “public health care establishment” shall accordingly refer to a health care establishment set up, run, financed or controlled by the Government or privately owned ;

(i) “health nuisance” means a situation, or a state of affairs, that endangers life or health or adversely affects the well-being of a person or community ;

(j) “health research” means any research which contributes to knowledge of:-

(i) biological, clinical, psychological or social processes in human beings,

(ii) improved methods for health care services,

(iii) human pathology, causes of diseases, effect of the environment on the human body,

(iv) development or new application of pharmaceuticals, medicines vaccines etc., and

(v) the development of new applications of the health technology;

and any reference to “research” herein shall mean the same unless specifically stated otherwise;

(k) “human body substances” mean substances of human body that may be collected for reasons related to health care like blood, blood products, semen, other body fluids, ova, sperms, bones, teeth, tissues, organs, embryos and any reference to “substances of body” shall mean the same ;

(l) “informed consent” n eans consent given, specific to a proposed health care, without any force, undue influence, fraud, threat, mistake or misrepresentation and obtained after disclosing to the person giving consent, either for himself/ herself, or in representative capacity where necessary, all material information including costs, risks, benefits and other significant implications of, and alternatives to, the proposed health care in a ianguage and manner understood by such person ;

(m) “life-style related diseases” means diseases associated with the way a person or group of people lives, including lifestyle diseases like atherosclerosis, cardio-vascular diseases, stroke, diabetes, hypertension ;

(n) “municipality” means Municipality and Municipal Corporations existing in different districts of the State ;

(o) “Order” means subsidiary legislation dealing with specific persons or cases and shall refer to orders issued under and by the mandate of this A ct;

(p) “Panchavati Raj Institution” means institutions of local selfgovernment established under the States’ Panchayati Raj laws, such as Gram Panchayat, Anchalik Panchayat and Zilla Parishad, and/or any reference to “PRIs” shall mean the same ;

(q) “prescribed” means as prescribed by rules made under this A ct;

(r) “public health emergency” means an unusual or unexpected occurrence or imminent threat of illness which affects or likely to affect a large population which needs immediate Public Health intervention to prevent death or disability to a large number of people ;

(s) “public health emergency of international concern” means a public health emergency which is determined, under specific procedures under International Health Regulations, to constitute a public health risk to other countries that potentially requires a coordinated international response ;

(t) “ universal precautions” means infection control measures that prevent exposure to or reduce the risk of transmission of pathogenic agents and includes education, training, use of personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns and masks, hand washing, and employing work practices ;

(u) “User” means person who seeks, accesses or receives any health care, as outpatient or inpatient, from any health care establishment, facility or provider, public or private, which operates for profit or n ot;

(v) “vulnerable and marginalized individuals or groups” means individuals who require special attention due to their being disadvantaged on account of physical, social, economic conditions and who are deemed as requiring special attention by virtue of any act in force in the state.