Condemning the Centre’s decision to airlift the Delhi gang-rape victim (since deceased) to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore last week for treatment, Indian Medical Association’s Tamil Nadu president Dr L P Thangavelu said, the decision has demoralised medical fraternity in the country.
He urged the Centre to formulate guidelines and norms to be followed in case a patient needed to be referred to a hospital abroad.
Questioning the Government’s decision to shift the patient who was in and out of ventilator, Dr Thangavelu claimed that Indian hospitals were well equipped to handle such cases and the medical professionals of the country are as competent as their international counterparts. Such an action taken by the Government would raise doubts in the minds of the people on the efficiency of treatment offered by Indian hospitals, he said.
“The airlifting of the (rape) victim to Singapore for treatment paints a poor picture of the competence level of the Indian doctors,” he rued.
This would not only dampen the confidence of the local people, but also discourage foreign nationals from choosing India as a medical tourism destination, he contended. The Government must explain what prompted it to airlift the patient to Singapore, he demanded.