Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas said the guidelines for training registered and private medical practitioners (RMPs and PMP) and certifying them as qualified professionals were likely to be finalised at a high-level meeting with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on November 2.
Addressing a press conference at Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences here on Wednesday, Dr. Srinivas said about 50,000 RMPs and PMPs have been rendering primary health care services in the villages but without any regulation, the consequences of which include indiscriminate use of antibiotics and corticosteroids.
Training
It has therefore been decided to bring them into the mainstream after imparting a year’s training and certifying them on the basis of their performance in an examination. The November 2 meeting was intended to finalise the modalities related to training, examination and certification.
The Minister said the RMPs and PMPs had no proper guidance over the years and there was no clarity of their role in the public health care system.
The training comprises lecturers for a period of three months and hospital work and field visits for three months each. The curriculum has not yet been decided so also the places of training.
The training would be given in separate batches at area hospitals or government / private medical colleges or both depending on the infrastructure availability.
Asked to comment on the resistance that the proposed certification of RMPs and PMPs evoked from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr. Srinivas said the matter is pending with a High Court–appointed committee and observed that it should not be an objection as only those meeting the requirements would be certified as eligible to contribute to public healthcare delivery.
Malpractices are everywhere and RMPs and PMPs alone should not be blamed for it, the Minister said, adding that the government’s intention was to utilise the services of the RMPs and PMPs who match the standards of medical practice.
