The Tamil Nadu Medical Council celebrated Doctors’ Day in the city on Tuesday and honoured five professionals who had contributed immensely to the field of medicine and teaching.
Speaking at the celebrations, Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said that the Medical Council in the State needed to have its own identity and cannot follow orders of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). “We need not dilute standards. At the same time, we need not follow historic standards. We have to register views in meets, have healthy debates and change according to times,” he said. The Health Secretary also recalled the contribution of doctors during times of crisis. Five persons—Varadarajan (Professor), Dr M Periyasamy, Chenniappan (Professor), Dr Abul Hasan and Dr P Thangavelu were honoured with Doctors Day Awards for serving their best in their profession.
Earlier, Dr Shantaram, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, said that the awards would serve as a motivation for others. Recalling that Tamil Nadu was one of the five States to have a medical council even before the country celebrated Independence, Dr K Prakasam, president of Tamil Nadu Medical Council said that the council had not appreciated the work of its members but was also quick to take action against wrong doings. “Our first case was when we suspended a doctor couple for allowing their class 10 son to conduct a caesarean on a woman,” he said, recalling some of the cases where the council had taken prompt action.