Services in various private hospitals across the country have been impacted as an outcome the Indian Medical Association has called for suspending routine services for 12 hours in protest against the National Medical Commission Bill.
A bill to replace the apex medical education regulator with a new body, to ensure transparency, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 29. The strike will be in force from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Courtesy: The Hindu
According to reports, services of outpatient departments will be impacted by the protest, but emergency and critical services will remain open. The National Medical Commission (Nmc) Bill, will not only replace the MCI but also proposes that practitioners of alternative medicines — such as homeopathy and Ayurveda — practice allopathy after completing a “bridge course”.
As part of the stir, doctors belonging to the Indian Medical Association in all hospitals would go on a dawn-to-dusk 12-hour strike, IMA State (Kerala) President E K Umar said in a statement. However, he said doctors would attend to emergency cases. The doctors also planned to take out a march to the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram as part of their protest. The bill has provisions that would adversely affect the health sector and medical education in the country, he alleged.