Madurai
Members of Indian Medical Association staged a dharna here on Tuesday against the Centre’s proposal for mixopathy that allowed Ayurveda doctors to perform surgeries based on modern scientific medicine.
The protesters, including women, carried placards and shouted slogans against mixopathy.
The agitation was led by its Madurai branch president V.N. Alagavenkatesan.
“As per the National Medical Commission regulations, training on allopathy medicine cannot be given to any unqualified person and unregistered member. This means, people who have not undergone MBBS course cannot be taught on surgeries based on allopathy medicine,” he said.
“We are protesting against mixopathy not because we fear that allopathy doctors would be affected. But, eventually mixopathy will affect specialisation in Ayush. Ayurveda has been a big attraction of medical tourism in Kerala,” said IMA (Madurai) president V.N. Alagavenkatesan.
He also clarified that IMA was not against Ayurveda doctors performing surgeries. “But, they should not do surgeries in hospitals following allopathy medicine and using allopathy drugs, but at hospitals following Ayurveda medicine,” he said.
He said that eventually untrained doctors would perform surgeries on gullible people who could not distinguish between a qualified and unqualified surgeon, he said adding that it would prove dear for the poor.
On further course of action, he added that 2,400 private clinics and hospitals in Madurai would not take up non-emergency outpatient treatment and elective surgeries on December 11.
