HYDERABAD: As the State continues to struggle with the issue of rural medical practitioners (RMPs), private medical practitioners (PMPs) and quacks, doctors and experts allege that Section 32 of the Central government’s proposed National Medical Commission Bill of 2019 will only intensify quackery. This, after the Telangana government, has consistently refused to take a stand in the matter.
“Section 32 will allow community health workers, including professionals like lab technicians, to provide medication and medical services to patients,” explained Dr Sanjeev Reddy, general secretary of Indian Medical Association, Hyderabad. Doctors in Telangana have consistently demanded an anti-quackery law, pointing out that allowing quacks to treat patients would only lead to misdiagnosis, risking the lives of patients. Officials from the Department of Public Health have confirmed that the proposed anti-quackery law is nowhere close to being initiated anytime soon.
Elaborating on the situation of patients who come to government hospitals after being treated by quacks, Dr B Nagender, superintendent of Osmania General Hospital, said, “Although we do not have an official record of such patients, we witness them quite frequently. However, such patients prefer to go to private hospitals since the RMPs and PMPs do not want government hospitals to take notice of their failures to provide correct medication. So the quacks themselves take the patients to private hospitals.”
‘Vote bank politics deplorable’
Alleging vote bank politics as a motive behind the decision, Dr Sanjeev Reddy said, “(With this Bill) Community health workers will be allowed to practise, especially in the rural areas of the State, where quackery is already thriving. This is a huge blow to medical infrastructure. The government’s stand to appease these RMPs for their vote bank politics is deplorable.”
According to reports, the former national president of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Ravindra Wankhedkar, had noted, “If the government’s idea was to bridge the gap between the number of patients and doctors in rural areas, I would ask, doesn’t rural India deserve doctors as good as the ones in urban India? Are those living in rural India second-grade citizens whose lives can be put at risk with doctors who would diagnose them incorrectly?”
Meanwhile in Telangana, quackery is not limited to just rural areas. Dr PS Vijeyendar, chairman of Telangana Junior Doctor’s Association, said, “Recently, a patient who had injured his ankle had approached a quack near Shamirpet area in Hyderabad. After incorrect treatment the patient developed an abscess and swelling leading to septicemia. Now he is demanding fast, free and effective cure from us doctors at OGH.”
City docs reach Delhi to protest confusion over exit exam’s replacement
Doctors from Indian Medical Association (IMA), Hyderabad and Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences on Sunday attended the pan-India meet called by the IMA’s student body in Delhi, to protest multiple facets of the proposed NMC Bill, 2019
“Our primary issue is with the National Exit Examination (NEXT), which is an exit exam proposed to replace the NEET PG entrance exam. There is no clarity on this step. Earlier, students could practice medicine after completing their MBBS. But now the EXIT exam is mandatory to pass, along with the MBBS final year exam. We are demanding immediate clarity to understand the implications of the exam, because currently, of all the PG seats, 50 per cent are reserved for the national pool and 50 per cent for the State students in Telangana,” said Dr G Srinivas, president of NIMS RDA
Resonating the same, general secretary of IMA, Hyderabad, Dr Sanjeev Reddy said that if conditions of the exit exams are not clarified there is a chance of an increase in the percentage of students from outside
Telangana in the State’s medical varsities
Dr PS Vijeyendar, chairman of Telangana Junior Doctor’s Association said, “Because the guidelines are unclear, what will happen to the doctors who have already given their MBBS years back and planned to pursue PG after a break. Will they also have to give the NEXT exam, or are their dreams of PG degree going to be shattered”
What section 32 says
The Commission may grant limited licence to practice medicine at
mid-level as Community Health Provider to such person connected with a modern scientific medical profession who qualify such criteria as may be specified by the regulations: Provided that the number of limited licence to be granted under this sub-section shall not exceed one-third of the total number of licenced medical practitioners registered (sic)