Dr. Ravi Wankhedkar, national president of Indian Medical Association (IMA) speaks to The Hindu about the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill and also why allopathic doctors across India are up in arms against it.
What are the highlights of the govt-proposed NMC?
The NMC Bill is a pro-rich, anti-people in its current form that will only evade the quality of medical education in India. The province to conduct National Licentiate Examination (NLE) will be against the upcoming doctors. Even if the UG student fails to clear NLE, they have certain clause that allows them the licence to practise. The graduating student will only have one theoretical exam to pass which will create a bias amongst the rich . It will be a drawback for the deserving rural candidates and will only promote corruption. Another issue is the regulation of seats in private medical colleges which have been amended from 15% to over 60% according to the proposed Bill. This only will lead to pro-rich reservation and lack of college access to students from far-flung areas.
Bridge course to join other medical sciences into allopathy will only develop half-baked doctors prescribing allopathic medicines and cause a decline in the quality of treatment. .
Another clause in the current draft states that anybody can open a medical college (with the terms and conditions not being apparent) which will only degrade the quality of education .
What are allopathic doctors protesting against in the proposed Bill?
To fulfil the deficit of doctors, allowing bridge course for AYUSH students will result in poor healthcare services.
Mixing two different fields of sciences will only end up in mixopathy which will have a large impact on the public health. The admission and exit systems for graduation and post-graduation are favoring students from rich background. This will have an adverse impact on students from low socio-economic backgrounds. . By completing a six-month bridge course, AYUSH practitioners will be licensed for practising allopathy which itself is a counterfeit for allopathic doctors. The system that is currently running in India have produced one of the world’s finest quality specialist doctors which will be affected.
How does it affect the doctors-patients relationship?
The doctor-patient relationship is already on a low ebb, and it will continue with the current form of the proposed NMC Bill. An allopathic doctor undergoes rigorous practice, which is certified by an autonomous body. Taking a theoretical test by AYUSH practitioners will result in generating half-baked doctors.
How does having a larger baseline of primary doctors using bridge course adversely affect the patients?
Deficiency of doctors is low across the country but the concentration of doctors in urban areas is five times higher than the specified norms. Lack of government jobs prevents the undergraduates to pursue PG courses. Out of 1.3 lakh graduates, only 27,000 make it into the PG courses. The jobs offered to deserving doctors will have a low pay scale (even lower than a clerk). Now, with the intervention of licentiate exam, it is mandatory for MBBS students to clear it for getting licence to practice. On the other hand, AYUSH practitioners can practise allopathic by clearing the bridge course . Due to this, the cost of medications and treatment will go up.
What are the IMA and big hospitals doing to stop quackery, with reports of private hospitals deploying ayurvedic doctors in ICU?
Mixing of two separate medical sciences itself will cause a huge impact on the public health. The Bharat Yatra being conducted from February 25 is to create awareness among the masses not to mix them. Ayurveda widely differs from modern medication and treatments should be done separately which is contraindicated in the NMC Bill as well. For the same reason, the IMA is conducting Bharat Yatra across the country to create awareness among the citizens, hospitals, doctors and the medical fraternities about the ill-effects on public health of the same.
Why doesn’t the IMA also involve itself in other patient-friendly suggestions including rationalisation of prices for medicine and hospital stay?
The IMA has already taken steps to curb the prices of medicines and insist on generic medicines. The one-drug-one-company-one price, was recently requested by the IMA to the government for an urgent ordinance. Suggesting doctors and the hospitals to ensure no medicine is priced higher than the MRP, and emphasising on the Jan Aushadhi Kendras by classifying all consumables under NLEM and non-NLEM which will automatically cap the prices of essential drugs.
What are the patient welfare causes that IMA has involved itself in after its inception?
The IMA, from time to time, has been with the pubic health for cutting down medicine prices, boost EWS reservation in hospitals and many more. The agitation against the NMC Bill is the latest example of how the IMA is protecting public health with no personal interest involved.
