IMA strike call may hit private OPDs today

-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Services at private hospitals in India are likely to be hit on Tuesday as the Indian Medical Association has called for suspending routine services for 12 hours in protest against the National Medical Commission Bill, which seeks to replace Medical Council of India with a new body. The bill is likely to be debated in Parliament on Tuesday. OPDs of private hospitals may be hit but emergency and critical services will be open, officials said.

The bill also proposes to allow alternative medicine graduates to practise allopathy after completing a "bridge course". In response to the doctor’s strike, the Union health ministry said it has written to all Centre-run hospitals such as Safdarjung, Ram Manohar Lohia, AIIMS and Lady Hardinge Medical College, to make necessary arrangements to ensure that patient care and emergency services are run smoothly.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which has been strongly opposing the NMC bill saying it will "cripple" the functioning of medical professionals by making them completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators, has declared Tuesday a "Black Day". "The NMC Bill in the present form is not acceptable. This bill is anti-poor, anti-people, non-representative, undemocratic and anti-federal in character. The IMA headquarter hereby declares closure of all routine services for 12 hours from 6am to 6pm tomorrow across the country," newly-appointed IMA national president Dr Ravi Wankhedkar said.

Please click here to read more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *