The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday called off its 12-hour shutdown of OPDs in private hospitals across the country to protest the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2017, after the Bill was referred to a Parliamentary standing committee. The strike saw low response in metro cities, including Delhi, but was near total in rural areas, the IMA said.The Bill, which has been constantly opposed by the IMA ever since it received the go-ahead by the Union Cabinet on December 15, was referred to a standing committee following the request of several opposition parties."We called off our 12-hour strike (6 a.m.-6 p.m.) as the government agreed to our demands and has sent it to the standing committee," IMA's senior member and ex-President K.K. Aggarwal told IANS.Asked about the response to its strike call, IMA's national president Ravi Wankhede said that "Since most private hospitals in metro cities are tertiary care hospitals, in metro cities the response was low. However, private hospitals in rural areas fully participated and followed our call of 12-hour OPD shut down."Aggarwal and Wankhede had also met Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda who has said that only Parliament can decide the fate of the NMC Bill.
Most Delhi private hospitals preferred to keep their OPD services open, and only few adhered to the IMA's call.Among the major corporate hospitals in Delhi which kept their OPDs open were BLK Super Specialty Hospital, Max Super specialty hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Apollo among others. The health care institutions that heeded the IMA's call comprised smaller private hospitals such as Bansal Hospital, Rockland among others.However, private hospitals in states like Karnataka and Kerala responded well as hundreds kept their Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) shut. The IMA has 2.77 lakh members, which includes Corporate Hospitals, Poly clinics and Nursing homes, across the country. In Dehradun, private doctors affiliated with the IMA closed their clinics, nursing homes and did not conduct any minor or major surgeries, but major hospitals like Himalayan hospital, Max, Synergy, Mahant Indresh conducted surgical procedures and kept the OPDs open. In West Bengal, healthcare services remained functional for the most part of the day as doctors at several hospitals worked wearing black badges as a symbolic protest against the Bill.H.N. Ravindra, President of the Karnataka chapter of IMA, speaking on the strike, said "There was good response to our strike call from private hospitals, though a few corporate hospitals in Bengaluru like Apollo, Fortis and Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) were functioning normally." IMA, which is not a statutory body, has been opposing the Bill to set up the NMC, and has demanded amendments in it.Terming the Bill as "anti-people and anti-patient", the association has stated that the Bill purported to eradicate corruption is "designed to open the floodgates of corruption"."NMC is an anti-poor bill with pro-private management clauses.
A bill to regulate the medical education and medical practice without the concurrence of the medical profession will be a disaster," said a statement from the association, issued after the delegation met the Union Health Minister.The bill also has provisions for granting permission to the doctors under Indian systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, to be allowed to practice allopathy after clearing a bridge course."Unscientific mixing of systems and empowering of other practitioners through bridge courses will only pave the way for substandard doctors and substandard medical practice. This will seriously impact patient care and patient safety," according to the association.IMA has four demands -- One elected representative in NMC from the Registered Medical Graduates of every state and no separate registration for AYUSH. "The minimum qualification to practice modern medicine shall remain MBBS. No bridge courses to MBBS. No Joint Council meetings to formulate them. IMA will facilitate the deployment of 65,000 fresh MBBS graduates graduating every year in Rural Health Services with appropriate working conditions and incentives," said the statement."No licentiate exam after final MBBS examination. IMA proposes common All India Final MBBS examination. Legitimate inspection and appropriate regulation on starting and running a Medical College. 85 per cent Government fixed fees in private Medical Colleges," said the statement.