VIJAYAWADA: Services in all private hospitals across the country and State would be hit for 12 hours, from 6 am – 6 pm, on Tuesday, in response to a Black Day call declared by Indian Medical Association (IMA) Action Committee in protest against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill allowing Ayush doctors to practice modern medicine. During the protest, services at outpatient departments (OPDs) are likely to be hit, but emergency and critical services will function.
Earlier, the IMA Medical Students’ Network had already declared a strike on January 2. Healthcare services at many private hospitals in the country are likely to be hit on Tuesday as the Indian Medical Association has called for suspending routine services for 12 hours to protest a Bill seeking to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body.
‘Risking lives’
Speaking to Express, former president of IMA AP, Dr Gangadhar said that the NMC Bill was discussed in Parliament recently and it offered Ayush doctors, who practiced Ayurveda and Homeopathy, to practice modern medicine. “Their stream is different and we don’t support involving them with modern medicine as people’s lives would be at risk. With just simple bridge course, we don’t think they can pull it off in modern medicine and treat people,” Dr Gangadhar said.
He said that the Indian Medical Association, which had been strongly opposing the NMC Bill, had stated that such a move would cripple the functioning of medical professionals by making them completely under the control of non-medical and political bodies. “The IMA headquarters has declared closure of all services for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm on Tuesday across the country,” Dr Gangadhar said.
Child specialist Dr Easwer sharing his opinion said that even MBBS doctors are not allowed to work as specialists or super specialists and have a limit to what they can do. “I see no problem if doctors from other streams are given basic training in modern medicine and are permitted to work at lower levels than MBBS to treat patients at primary levels,” Dr Easwer said.
Ayurvedic doctors welcome move
On the other hand, Ayush doctors are eagerly awaiting the Bill approval. Dr Rashmi, Ayurvedic practitioner, said that the government’s decision to include them and permitting them to practice modern medicine was really appreciative. “We are not uneducated, we are educated and have done medicine in other streams and we do have knowledge of modern medicine. It is sad to see the doctors are opposing us to practice modern medicine citing that we could risk public health. With our knowledge, we can actually work much better than regular doctors,” she said.