- Several citizens and senior doctors from the state and individual medical institutions across the nation have conferred solidarity with civil protests called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
- The associations engaging in the demonstrations involve the resident doctors association (RDA) of the Centre-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA).
THD NewsDesk, New Delhi: Several communities of citizen and senior doctors from the state and individual medical institutions across the nation have conferred solidarity with civil protests called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday to deny the Central government’s recent activities and policies in the area of health and medical education.
The associations engaging in the demonstrations involve the resident doctors association (RDA) of the Centre-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA).
About two lakh doctors from medical colleges, government services, general practitioners, specialists, resident doctors, and medical students have designed a pacific public protest against three aggressive moves by the Centre, which include the latest improvement by the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) that provided Ayurvedic postgraduate students to undergo formal training to perform 66 types of medical procedures.
Another problem is the National Education Policy 2020, which intends to phase out all institutions allowing single streams and that all universities and colleges must strive to become multidisciplinary by 2040. The third is developing four committees by the NITI Aayog to formulate strategies on integrative medical education, practice, public health, and research.
Adarsh Pratap Singh, President, AIIMS’ RDA, said that the mixing of medicine streams poses a dangerous risk to the well-being of the innocent, general population, which may be persistent and fatal.
“India has been at the forefront in the field of medicine, and it is Indians who are amongst the best medical practitioners all over the world. We all owe it to medical education in our country, which proves to be distinct globally. Even in times of pandemic, modern medicine has proven to reduce mortality and morbidity.
“Modern medicine has evolved over a while through groundbreaking research and all the possible developments. This journey of modern medicine is entirely different from that of Ayurveda. Therefore, it is neither legitimate nor safe for our patients to be treated by the doctors with incomplete knowledge of the different streams,” Singh said.
“We are clearly against the mixing of streams of medicine since it poses a hazardous risk to the health of the innocent, general population which may be irreversible and fatal,” he added.
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) stated that the recent gazette notification by the CCIM that defines professional competency expected from the postgraduates of various Ayurveda streams had created a grey zone that is likely to be exploited, encouraging unethical medical practices. “Its adverse effect will have to be borne by the people, especially the rural population who already have limited access to healthcare,” said Dr. Sunil Arora, general secretary, FORDA.
“We are in no state of defining any stream of the medicine being superior to another. Every system of medicine was developed and has attained today’s status by adhering to its principles. Overnight conversion of one stream to another will not only undermine their originality but would also lead to the intermingling of various treatment methodologies in the name of integration which may affect the standard of patient care and teaching,” he added.
Source: TOI
