NEW DELHI: Bowing down to nationwide condemnation from disability rights experts and LGBTQ activists, the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Thursday announced that they have withdrawn and cancelled the revised MBBS curriculum.
The New Indian Express was the first to break the story on September 1 that the MBBS students in the 2024 course will be taught that sodomy and lesbianism are unnatural sexual offences and transvestism is a sexual perversion along with fetishism, voyeurism, sadism, necrophagia, masochism, exhibitionism, frotteurism and necrophilia.
The revised MBBS curriculum proposed by the NMC sparked immediate controversy, with activists arguing that it does not adequately safeguard the rights of individuals with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQ.
In a circular, the NMC Academic Cell, Under Graduate Medical Education Board, said that the Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) Guidelines, 2024 published on August 31 has been withdrawn.
“It is informed that the Circular of even number dated 31.08.2024 thereby issuing Guidelines under Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) 2024, stands “WITHDRAWN AND CANCELLED” with immediate effect. The above guidelines will be revised and uploaded in due course,” said the circular issued by Shambhu Sharan Kumar, Director, UGMEB.
Dr Satendra Singh, a prominent disability activist, who was the first to flag the issue, said, “The NMC curriculum has only been withdrawn for now. We must wait to see what's coming next and cannot afford to be complacent, as the NMC has a history of making multiple U-turns.”
He said the revised curriculum regressed the progress made in recent years towards the inclusion of people with disabilities and LGBTQ rights.
Dr Singh, who is also a Director Professor of the Department of Physiology, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, had told this paper that the MBBS curriculum for 2024 is a significant letdown in social responsibility.
"With great difficulty and judicial advocacy, we had succeeded in including disability and LGBTQ rights in the new competency-based medical education curriculum.”
The NMC had also removed the seven hours of disability competencies from the foundation course, which was heralded best practices globally. This violates Section 39 (2)(f) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandating the inclusion of the rights of disabled in the curriculum of universities, colleges and schools.
The NMC took note of LGBTQ rights only after reprimands from the Madras and Kerala high courts. Following the rap, NMC issued directives to all medical universities to refrain from endorsing materials containing unscientific, derogatory, or discriminatory content regarding the LGBTQ community.
Dr Prof (Dr) Aqsa Shaikh, Professor of Community Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, described it as a right decision.
“I think it is an opportunity for NMC to come out with a fresh look into the MBBS curriculum. I think it is an opportunity for advocacy groups to write to NMC to include the concept that was withdrawn,” said Dr Sheikh, who describes herself as a trans woman.
“This also gives an opportunity to bring in clarity about concepts like attempted suicide described as an offence, and adultery taught as an offence. It is time for NMC to give a fresh look to the entire curriculum. They should involve the marginalised community and also doctors who come from these marginalized groups. The curriculum should be more gender and disabled friendly.”